When I was young my mom told me, “You need a thicker skin.” It was a metaphor. She meant I shouldn't let people's words get under my skin.
Now that I'm older, needing thicker skin is no longer a metaphor—it's a reality. My arm skin is tissue-thin. My friends don’t have to go to the Las Vegas Bodies exhibit to see what veins, bones, and cartilage look like. They can just look at my hand. Medical personnel don’t have to search for my veins. I laugh when they put that elastic in my arm to make my veins pop out. Are they blind? My veins are already popped out.
And like most seniors, my skin tears. My friend recently tore her skin on the doorway. She showed me the scars on her arm where she had previously torn her skin. I said it looked like she had a cat. My arm has dozens of hairline scratch marks from the cat. No, she said, “I’ve never had a cat, these are all from bumps.”
Another friend recently tore the skin on the back of her hand while making her bed. She had quite a tear. Ouch!
While I have a lot of cat scratch scars, I too have scars from tears. The shower is my worst enemy. The metal frame gets me every time if I’m careless and swipe my arm across it as I exit the shower.
Even innocent cardboard boxes can be hazardous—pulling something out can result in a skin rip from grazing my arm against the box lid.
One advantage of wrinkled, crinkled skin is the scars are hidden in the wrinkles and crinkles. If I bought those products to remove my crepey skin, you’d see all my scars.
I wear long sleeves because I’m usually cold, but they are also a defense against ripping my skin when I brush against something. No matter how hot it is, I’ll wear long sleeves when I'm working around the house. When I gardened, I’d wear long sleeves in 90-degree weather.
If you tire of wearing long-sleeved shirts, they sell arm sleeves. The arm sleeve ads picture young athletes, prepping for a race. The ‘Performance Series’ are sleeves tout superior compression and revitalizing the arm muscles. As a bonus, they provide UV protection. Oh, and another important feature – they cover up tattoos. That’s nice to know.
Lower in the arm sleeve product listing, I found something more useful for us seniors: cut-resistant sleeves. Now that’s right up my alley. I can trade my dowdy long-sleeve tops for thickly woven, silvery sleeves. A real fashion statement.
Evridwear cut-resistant sleeves - a fashion statement?
While long sleeves might protect us from tears, they might not protect us from those ugly bruises when we bump into something. My mom always had large purple bruises on her skin. I always attributed it to her health issues (diabetes and kidney failure), but now I know it’s just old age. Many times my arms have big, ugly black and purple splotches and I don’t even remember bumping something.
Medications that many seniors use such as blood thinners, corticosteroids, or NSAIDS can make your skin thinner, I don’t take any of those, but I fear what would happen if I ever needed to take them. I’d have to wear a hazmat suit.
Perhaps the product New Skin would help. You paint it on your skin like nail polish and it forms a tough protective barrier. It’s meant for use as a bandage for minor scrapes and cuts. But maybe you could paint it on your arms each morning to prevent injury. It’s waterproof so you could put it on before you shower, but wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of a shower?
Also, it’s flammable so don’t use it if you smoke or like bananas foster for dessert. And you aren’t supposed to use it over large areas of your body. Thank heavens my arms are skinny.
There are lots of products to protect your skin. A product called Liquid Skin just protects from moisture and chemical products. It keeps tattoos looking fresh – those chemical products might fade them. Now there’s a thought – cover my arms with black and blue tattoos so my bruises and scars wouldn’t show. I’d fit right in with some of the younger crowd.
Skin damage from the sun’s UV rays is a primary cause of skin thinning. To prevent further damage, dermatologists suggest you use sunscreen and hats. So now I’ll look like the crime scene tech with a sunhat. I hate hats. You get hat hair and they make you hot – or I should say hotter than the long sleeves make me.
But take heart. Fortune well says ‘While you’re dealing with your thinning skin, also keep in mind that you’re not alone. No matter how well you’ve protected yourself from sun damage and taken care of your body, this part of aging is almost universal—and countless other people are going through the same experience.”
I'm not sure that’s a solace, but I guess it will have to do.
References
Kells McPhillips, It’s natural for skin to thin with age. Here’s how dermatologists say you should care for yours, Fortunewell.com, April 2, 2023
Bruisestoppers, Arm Protectors
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