Losing muscle tone at 80

August 3, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I am an 80-year-old female and have never heard of a loss of muscle tone. Can you fill me in?

DEAR READER: Muscle tone is what allows us to keep and maintain our bodies in certain positions. When you choose to make a particular movement, the brain sends a message to the specific muscle group involved to modify the resistance by, for example, shortening biceps muscles on the front of an arm while lengthening the triceps muscles on the back of the arm. In order to complete smooth, coordinated movement, all muscles being used must be balanced evenly. Everyone has muscles, but some people do specific exercises to improve their muscle tone. The results can be seen easily on bodybuilders and people who are physically active.
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Daily Column

November 21, 2008 By

DEAR DR. GOTT:
Over the past 18 months, my 28-year-old granddaughter has been on your no flour, no sugar diet. She has lost 170 pounds and uses a treadmill for one hour every day. Her only problem now is getting rid of the extra skin on her arms and belly. Do you know what sort of exercises she can do that will make this skin shrink?

DEAR READER:
First, I would like to congratulate your granddaughter on her astonishing weight loss.

Skin is very stretchy and often reshapes as weight is lost. This, however, doesn’t always happen. The longer the skin remains stretched out, the less likely it will return to normal. Your granddaughter has discovered this the hard way.

To the best of my knowledge there is no way to tighten the skin other than surgical removal of the excess. [Read more...]

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Aging skin loses elasticity

February 2, 2008 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I am 45 and in good health and physical shape. I have great muscle tone but I’m very unhappy with how my leg skin is starting to sag. What causes this and can anything be done to help slow it down?

DEAR READER: As we age, our skins often become dry and wrinkled due to a loss of elasticity and collagen.

I recommend that you apply moisturizing lotion that contains collagen enhancers every day. This may help to slow the dehydration of the skin and return some suppleness.

To my knowledge there is no permanent, safe option to fix sagging skin. Some individuals choose to have excess skin removed, but I don’t recommend this due to the risk of tearing (if the skin is pulled too much during the healing process), scarring and infection. It is a major surgery and shouldn’t be considered for cosmetic purposes only.

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