National Menopause Foundation interview with Dr. Amy Newburger on treating dry skin

A decreased ability to hold water in the dermis, and increased evaporation of moisture through the stratum corneum, result in drier skin starting during menopause.

Why does our skin lose hydration/get dryer as we age?

Skin is dynamic and has three compartments:

  1. The epidermis, which is cellular and has cells multiplying at the bottom of the layer all the time, pushing older cells up. These cells produce a protein called keratin. As they’re pushed up, these cells die and form the stratum corneum which is a water-resistant barrier;
  2. The dermis which consists of a small number of cells, fibroblasts, that manufacture collagen fibers, (enormous protein chains that can attract and hold lots of water molecules to it);
  3. Elastin, which gives the skin its elasticity, glycosaminoglycans, which are large glycoproteins that hold water too, and the subcutaneous fat, which is our cushioning.

In a young, healthy person the epidermis would be 10-20 cell layers deep. In an older, healthy person the epidermis has only 3-5 cell layers deep under the stratum corneum.

The feeling of dryness with age is caused by a thinner stratum corneum and the slower replacement of skin cells. This results in older skin becoming less watertight, and in moisture evaporating more quickly through the stratum corneum.

For aging women in menopause, the quality of collagen fibers change, becoming thinner, fewer and less able to keep water in the dermis. The same lowered production goes for the elastin and the glycosaminoglycans.

A decreased ability to hold water in the dermis, and increased evaporation of moisture through the stratum corneum, result in drier skin starting during menopause.

Why do some lotions work better than others on dry skin?

Unlike other moisturizers, EpiMD is designed specifically for skin that is drying due to age. The EpiMD formula targets elements in normally aging skin that call for a different kind of help than that which is supplied by most other lotions, designed primarily for a younger, more general population.

What led you to create EpiMD?

The idea for the product actually came from my patient, Wendy Serkin, who founded SeniorSkin, Inc. Wendy’s Mom loved golf, but it took a toll on her skin, which became uncomfortably itchy, dry and brittle as she got older. She tried many different moisturizers; none of them did much good. She asked me for advice. Could I recommend a skincare product that would help? Unfortunately, I explained that there was no such product currently available. I treated at least 15,000 mature adults and nearly all of them had the same basic complaint: dryness.


To read more,  please visit the National Menopause Foundation