Exploring the effects of non-medical versus medical approaches to the management of skin aging in women over sixty

This study was a pilot project, set up to assess ageing skin using a multi-disciplinary approach. The main aim of this study was to evaluate whether the use of more radical (‘medical’) treatments in the management of skin ageing would bring superior results and ultimately make people look younger, than the use of cosmetics (‘non-medical’ treatments). A simple post-hoc study design was used, whereby medical treatments varied within the group, all of them completed at least 2 weeks before the start of the study. In addition, it was of interest to assess the suitability of the proposed combination of methods. A total of 21 female participants were recruited for this study: 11 for the non-medical and 10 for the medical group. The multi-disciplinary approach consisted of instrumental measurements, self-assessment, expert assessment by Merz scales and a public perception survey. The majority of nearly 70 sets of instrumental skin data obtained in this study did not differ significantly between the non-medical and the medical group. However, the medical group gave higher self-assessment scores for their faces. The scores for hands were lower than scores for faces by both groups. This was partly supported by instrumental data (lower skin hydration on hands than on the face). The findings of the public perception survey of nine matched pairs of subjects scored the non-medical group as younger looking. Data analysis has shown that the judgement of youthfulness did not depend on either the gender or the age of observers.