Effective treatments to improve an uneven skin texture

Are you bothered by your skin texture? Do you feel your skin looks rough with enlarged pores or not as smooth and radiant as you would like it to be? Find out why you may be experiencing this and what kinds of treatments, aesthetic and non-aesthetic, that may help.

What is skin texture?

Skin texture describes the look and feel of the skin’s surface. Ideally, a smooth skin surface helps us to achieve an even tone of skin that looks healthy and radiant.

When the skin surface is rougher with enlarged pores, light does not reflect off the skin as well, leaving our skin looking less radiant. Instead, our skin may look dull and dry without that ‘healthy glow’ that most of us aspire for. Texture-wise the skin can also feel rough when we touch it.

Sometimes, the skin is rough in specific areas, such as on the cheeks or around the nose. Similarly, the same can be the case with enlarged pores, where we often have enlarged pores in specific areas such as the nose.

Does our skin become more uneven as we get older?

An uneven skin texture can occur at any age. Some aspects may actually get better with age. Most of us can, for example, look forward to a decreased number of visible pores as we get older.¹

In general, however, the texture of our skin becomes more uneven with age. For example, the skin can become drier and flakier with age making it prone to uneven and rough texture.²

Why do some of us have an uneven skin texture?

There are a number of reasons why we may have an uneven skin texture. Let’s have a look at some common causes.

Enlarged pores

Skin pores that we can see with our eyes, without magnifying glasses, are not pores in the “truest” sense of the word. True pores that secrete sweat or sebum (oils) are much smaller.¹

The pores that we can see are instead slight depressions on the skin surface. Each one of these depressions can contain many microscopic true pores.¹

Nevertheless, most of us still call these depressions pores, and it’s these “pores” that can cause our skin to be uneven-looking.

Skin pores (or depressions) can vary with ethnicity. For example, those of Chinese descent often have fewer and smaller small-sized pores. Meanwhile, other ethnicities may have larger pores. Our pores tend to get worse (in size and amount) between the ages of 18 to 49. After that, they tend to plateau, decreasing as we age.¹

Skin roughness

People with smooth skin can shed their dead skin cells more efficiently, with cells being shed in small groups that are not visible on the skin surface.²

For those who have rougher skin, this may be due to the shedding process being affected. Dead skin cells appear in clumps that are visible on the skin surface, such as flakes that tend to make the skin look rough.²

A common reason why the skin shedding process is affected is because our skin is dry and not adequately hydrated. “Normal” skin tissue contains more than 10 percent water.² Skin tissue itself refers to not only the skin surface but also the deeper layers of the skin.

Aesthetic treatments that can help improve the skin texture

If you’ve been bothered by your skin texture for some time, you may have already explored non-aesthetic options at home, such as hydrating moisturisers and gentle exfoliators.

Most of us are also aware that we should protect our skin from too much sun exposure, as that can cause premature aging (with drier and more rough skin).

If we want to take a step further, we can opt to seek professional help. There are several aesthetic treatments that can help to make the skin surface smoother. Some of them are rejuvenation treatments and are perhaps best suited to those a bit older (chemical peels, lasers, IPL, radiofrequency). Other treatments can be performed at any age, such as skinbooster treatments).

Let’s have a look at these different aesthetic treatments:

Chemical peels

Chemical peels are a more intense treatment type than our conventional at-home exfoliators. Depending on how strong they are, they ablate (remove) part of, or the whole skin surface (to a certain depth). What happens is actually a controlled damage of the skin, that allows the skin to start its healing process.³

This healing process rejuvenates the skin, removing dead skin cells to assist in making the skin smoother. The greater the damage done, the more effective the treatment will be, but there is also a risk for infections and scarring.³

Lasers, IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) and radiofrequency

Similar to chemical peels, these kinds of technologies also work by causing controlled damage to the skin. Instead of chemical substances, they use light with specific frequencies (lasers, IPL) or electromagnetic radiation (radiofrequency). The light or radiation heat up the tissues and destroy certain skin cells.³

Some laser and radiofrequency treatments are gentler to the skin as they do not treat the whole skin surface but smaller points on the skin surface. They are therefore called fractionated treatments.

Just as with chemical peels, the greater the damage done, the more effect it has on rejuvenating the skin texture. However, this also incurs a higher risk.³

Skinbooster treatments

Skinbooster treatments are injectable treatments that contain hyaluronic acid, a natural water-binding substance. Skinbooster treatments are most known for their ability to make the skin more hydrated with a “glow” from within⁴, but they also work to make the skin texture smoother.^5-10

Skinbooster treatments do not affect the skin surface, except for small pricks with a needle. Instead, they treat the deeper layers of the skin directly. So, the treatment is quite different from chemical peels, lasers, IPL and radiofrequency as the purpose of skinbooster treatments is to provide deep skin hydration, not to cause skin damage.

There are several skinbooster treatments on the market that have been proven to reduce enlarged pores and to improve skin texture, such as Restylane® Skinboosters™.^5-10 Consult with your healthcare practitioner so you get a treatment that does the job you want.

Consult your healthcare practitioner

There are pros and cons with every treatment. A qualified healthcare practitioner can help guide you to the treatment that will help you the most. Don’t rush into an appointment. All aesthetic treatments should be performed after careful consideration.

^{1. Flament F., Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2015 Feb 16;8:85-93.;}

^{2. Madison K.C., Invest Dermatol. 2003 Aug;121(2):231-41;}

^{3. Ganceviciene R. et al, Dermatoendocrinol. 2012;4(3):308–319;}

^{4. Dierickx C et al. Dermatol Surg 2018; 44 Suppl 1: S104–S18.;}

^{5. Kim J. Arch Aesthetic Plast Surg 2014; 20(2): 97–103.;}

^{6. Gubanova E et al. J Drugs Dermatol 2015; 14(3): 288–299.;}

^{7. Kerscher M et al. Dermatol Surg 2008; 34(5): 720–726.;}

^{8. Lee B et al. Arch Plast Surg 2015; 42(3): 282–287.;}

^{9. Williams S et al. J Cosmet Dermatol 2009;8(3): 216–225.;}

^{10. Wu Y et al. J Cosmet Dermatol 2020; 19(7): 1627–1635.}

^{Restylane® Skinboosters, Class III medical device, is a gel containing hyaluronic acid 20 mg/mL and lidocaine 0.3%, for injection by a healthcare professional into or below the skin to improve skin structure, hydration and elasticity. Restylane® Skinboosters has risks and benefits. Ask your healthcare professional if Restylane® Skinboosters is right for you and to explain the possible side effects. Tell them if any side effects concern you. ALWAYS FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS YOU ARE GIVEN. For precautions and contraindications, see www.galdermaaesthetics.com/nz.

Unfunded in NZ. Product and treatment costs apply.}