2019 Volume 56 Issue 1 Pages 35-42
It is generally believed that the skin moisture levels tend to decline with aging. We followed age-related changes in the skin moisture by examining some biophysical properties of skin in winter in five women in their early forties over a 4-year period from 2011 to 2014. Sebum contents, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and skin conductance were measured on the forehead, the lateral outer canthus, and the cheek in a climate chamber (24°C, relative humidity: 35%). The subjects’ sebum contents declined with increasing age at all measurement sites. The decline was more prominent in the lateral canthus and in the cheek than in the forehead, and the decline became more apparent in all of the sites in the latter half of the 4 years. On the other hand, the TEWL nor the skin conductance did not change over the 4 years. In conclusion, in women in their early forties, the decrease in the sebum amount with aging was not considered to have any influence in the facial skin moisture level. Taking the fact that lipids from the sebaceous glands having smaller water -holding capacity constitute the major and those from the epidermal cells having the larger holding capacity do the minor portion of the sebum into consideration, it will be needed to study further through the analysis of components of sebum with increasing number of the subjects and precision in order to establish effective measures to maintain moisture of skin in middle-aged women.
