Have you ever linked your bones to facial sagging and wrinkles?

Your skull is the scaffolding of your face, and as we age, it keeps remodelling itself. Parts of this scaffolding shrink and thin, while it overall widens ear to ear but shortens front to back. These uneven shifts not only weaken the structural hold of ligaments, muscles, fat pads and skin, they also change the light reflections and create more hollowness. I always notice that when I catch my reflection in windows. I have a lot more shaded areas than I used to.

Imaging your face like a table with a cloth on it. The table is your skull, and the cloth your skin. Now, visualize the table shrinking in the middle and bulging in the outer parts. The tablecloth folds and crinkles.

When the upper jaw and the bony area under the eye recede, cheekbones flatten, lips thin, eye bags bulge, and tear troughs, barcode lines, and nasolabial folds chisel their way into your face. There is bone loss at the inner eye socket where the brow starts, which lifts the inner brow and makes the outer third appear droopy.

Jowls aren’t sagging skin, they come from weak structural support when the upper jaw shortens and the lower jawline indents.

When the bones change, the periosteum (thin cover of bones) moves, and the muscles and ligaments lose their anchor points. The structural hold and pulling mechanics suffer.

The switch in bone architecture hits especially around 40.

The natural drop in estrogen breaks bone down faster than it can rebuild itself. Estrogen keeps the bone building stem cells—osteoblasts—active. With declining estrogen, the bone-eating stem cells—osteoclasts—are more dominant. Another reason we see such drastic shifts in our faces around then.

Needless to say, facial rejuvenation isn’t just about pulling the skin, it is about restoring the tissues beneath and maintaining the volume.

You might think: “I am tired of the pressure to look young, stop talking!” I hear you!

I am not endorsing the youth fetish. But, I know that many of you mourn the version that is slowly slipping away. Many loathe change and that certainly doesn’t stop with changes around our bodies. For me wanting to retain my young face is not about appeasing others, it is much more about navigating the dance between being okay to let the young version of myself go and welcoming the new but older version of my face.

If you are like me and you are not quite ready to let go, the next part is for you:

Nutrients

Calcium and vitamin D are the two most meaningful nutrients (or hormone respectively) for bone health. According to gynaecologist Dr Christiane Northrup, women aged 19–50 years old should get 1000 mg of calcium through their diet daily. Women 50+ need 1200 mg.

She also shares a theory that junk food acidifies the blood, which leaches calcium from the bones.

Here is an example of what a day with 1000 mg calcium looks like:

¼ cup of almonds

1 orange

2 cups chickpeas (canned; although dried is healthier )

1 cup whole fat milk

3 cups fresh spinach

1 can of sardines in oil

Vitamin K2 is also important. It pushes calcium from the blood to where it’s needed—the bones. Rich sources are beef, natto, cheese and egg yolks.

Don’t forget the bone broth and chicken skin. The bones and anchor points (periosteum) need collagen to grow. Or collagen powder as an alternative if you must.

Vitamin D needs: I do not believe in vitamin D supplements but that is your personal choice.

(Please discuss supplementation with a practitioner you trust.)

I prefer to get my vitamin D from a daily sunbath. As a rule of thumb, let the sun shine on as much skin as possible for 30 minutes at peak hours. No sunscreen. Or have longer sunbaths in the morning or late afternoon. I use the UV Index app to gauge safe exposure times and durations.

Btw, estrogen production depends on light as well. Sex hormone synthesis begins in the brain. When sunlight enters the eyes, the light energy travels to the brain and converts the cosmic energy into chemical messengers (hormones). A significant puzzle piece for hormonal balance.

Please don’t be worried about your skin being in the sun because of wrinkles. Sufficient sunlight is a vital part in health and longevity. The goal is to not get burned because this creates oxidative stress and inflammation along with the feared “photo-aging”.

Weight Exercise

Japanese physicist Eiichi Fukada and his colleagues found that collagen fibres (in ligaments, fascia and bones) generate electricity (piezoelectricity) when under mechanical pressure. Piezoelectricity electricity regenerates bone. A fun fact, tennis players have a denser bone in their Racquet Hand.

Chewing Hard Foods

Bone loss alone isn’t the only reason for the shapeshift of the skull. Every new bone cell comes from a stem cell, and its fitness plays a massive role in our appearance. Stem cell exhaustion is one of the 12 scientifically recognized hallmarks of cellular ageing. Stem cells are the birthplace of new cells. They hold the genetic information about the looks of new cells. When stem cells retire and the information isn’t passed on correctly, cell renewal becomes like a game of Telephone with a group of retirees who didn’t put her hearing aids in. The sentence at the end of the circle sounds different compared to the start. A fresh bone cell at the start of your life will have a better quality than a new cell in the middle or end of your life, which changes the functionality and appearance of your entire skeleton.

As already mentioned, bone regenerates better under stress. “You lose it if you don’t use it.” Bone stem cells love hard foods! As James Nestor states in his book Breath, the upper jaw (maxilla) can regrow denser well into your 70s if you engage the masseter muscles. Pass the raw carrots and bring back the bubblegum!

Supplementation

Discuss hormone balancing options with your trusted integrative practitioner. Not the kind that prescribes HRT like candy. You have better options. Dr Sara Szal and Dr Christiane Northrup are famous gynaecologists who give away a lot of their wisdom.

We cannot stop the natural decline but we can slow what nutrient deficiencies and hormone imbalances speed up prematurely.

After reading this, have your feelings towards anti-aging skincare and filler injections changed?