Why 40-year-old women look older than their male peers: 6 top reasons

Have you ever noticed that men 40+ often look much younger than their female peers? This is not uncommon. And this is despite the fact that most of the fair sex visit beauticians or at least use care cosmetics. What is the reason?

A psychologist’s view

psühholoog

Women are inherently more emotional, so they are more susceptible to stress.

Yes, they and cope with it faster than men (the reason – the difference in reactions at the physical and mental levels), but the consequences come all the same. Let’s look at the details.

1. The impact of stress

So, stress, to which women are very susceptible, inevitably affects their health. Automatically suffers and appearance: gray hair appears faster, the skin becomes less elastic, and nails – brittle, spoils the figure.

When the psyche is constantly in excitement, blood vessels narrow, the body is tense, the blood circulates worse, vitamins are not assimilated.

2. Midlife crisis

Both women and men go through the stage of psychological midlife crisis. It seems that youth is passing away and you can forget about yourself. This is called pessimism (negative outlook on life). It lowers self-esteem and makes you lose yourself.

In the fair sex, the breakdown often occurs in the most dangerous place – the belief in their beauty and attractiveness is gone. Here can quickly pull up both internal and external confirmations.

A woman should always feel loved and desired. When there is emptiness and loneliness in the soul, she is downcast, does not want to look better. Apathy sets in. Gradually it turns into depression. Then into chronic depression. This is definitely not the time to be young….

A doctor’s view

dermatologist, cosmetologist, trichologist.

I propose to understand why the fair sex can look older, looking into the physiology. What processes run differently in the male and female bodies?

3- Wear and tear on systems

A woman’s hormonal systems are sharpened for reproductive function. While a woman is carrying a child, there is a tremendous wear and tear on the body. Women have a longer life expectancy than men, but the wear and tear on the body starts earlier.

4. Testosterone levels

Testosterone is the key hormone in skin aging. It makes men’s skin 30% denser, stays toned longer and retains moisture. But the appearance of wrinkles is more noticeable and deeper. Their epidermis is 50% denser than women’s, and the dermis is 15% thicker and contains 22% more collagen. Therefore, men’s skin reacts more easily to external factors and damage.

5. Estrogen level

Against the background of estrogen insufficiency in women, collagen metabolism is disturbed. This leads to thinning of the skin, violation of its ability to bind water and loss of elasticity. The work of sweat glands, hair growth, barrier and regenerative ability of the skin changes.

6. Different subcutaneous fatty tissue

Subcutaneous fatty tissue in men is much thinner. The connecting partitions between the muscular fascia and the dermis in men run at an angle. As they fill in, there is a slow equalization of the angle of the septa. This means that men do not know the problem of orange peel (or it is formed very rarely in pathological cases). Also the skin of men is characterized by increased turgor and degree of extensibility. It is rarely prone to stretch marks.

Women are let down by the gender difference – the same septa in them are located perpendicular to the skin. The dense crosspieces connecting the tissues are not stretchable. When fatty tissue completely fills the cell, the skin above it bulges. Therefore, both when the cells are overfilled and when they are empty, an orange peel easily forms. Regardless of whether there is excess fat or not.

So when do women look younger?

In fact, until the age of 50, the actual aging rate of men and women is the same. Men win on a number of parameters, but often it is only about external signs. But after 50 years of age, the processes really begin to flow differently, and not in favor of the stronger sex. Men begin to age twice as fast.

As a result, from 60 to 70 years old, women are physiologically younger and healthier than men.

It’s important to remember that positive people who love themselves and respect others are less stressed, which means they look better and live longer. This seems to be the universal secret to youth – for both men and women.