AIBU to think HRT can help you look younger for longer?

[birdskirt]

I am currently not on HRT but thinking about it. I am late 40's and when I look around at my friends the ones who have been on HRT since their early 40's seem to still be looking much like they were while those of us who can't take it or haven't yet look older I feel. I've been holding off because I had hopped to have another baby (didn't happen) and also because I was waiting for symptoms to occur which they now have. One of my closest friends went on it pre-emptively in her early 40s mostly due to low energy levels and I think she could still pass for early 30s looks wise. I now have some hot flashes and sleep issues as my holistic approach hasn't been helping I am considering HRT. However I am not sure if I feel some regret that I didn't try it a bit sooner because while I don't think it can reverse aging I do think it seems to slow it down quite a bit and preserve what you have on all sort of levels not just skin and beauty.

Am I unreasonable to think that HRT does make you look better as you age?

The two ages we age exponentially are said to be 44 and 60. Scientists have established we age in accelerated bursts at these ages.

It doesn't sound like there's any reason you should. I would push your GP for a baseline dexascan, though, just to make sure your bones density is where you would want it to be.

I’m nearly 65, am not on HRT and my hair is very thick.

I am 53 and post menopausal and don't take HRT and feel I look pretty good for my age. But I don't work so have a lot of time for exercising including weights. I eat well but also micro dose a GLP and do plenty of botox etc and am a dedicated tretinoin user.

I know plenty of women on hrt who don't look amazing for their age but they aren't bothered so much about their looks but were having horrible menopausal symptoms.

I wouldn't rule it out but feel if I don't need it then I won't take it. I am very interested in how glp drugs work versus hrt as I have found my joints ache a lot less since I have taken them.

I’m 47, I started HRT at 41 after years of suffering peri. On sat I saw a girl I went to school with and couldn’t help comparing how much younger with less wrinkles I look. I hadn’t really thought about it before and didn’t think about the HRT being the reason till I saw this post.

No. Definitely not the case in my circle of friends aged mid fifties to mid sixties.

I don’t think so, my mum wasn’t offered HRT & very few of her friends and family were ever on it (a generational thing maybe) and there is a wide variation in how they have aged.

A lot is down to face shape, a strong bone structure helps.

I have been on it for a few years, my face is melting like a candle, so not for me. Unless it would have melted more - but I struggle to see how.

Mu neighbour mentioned being on it. I was surprised as she actually looks older than she is imo.

I think it kind of helps you look younger because the oestrogen prevents dry skin and this in turn slows downs the thinning of the skin/wrinkles. I think the combo of oestrogen and progesterone stimulates collagen production too. Obviously all in conjunction with genetics, diet and lifestyle, though.

Oestrogen helps produce collagen an elastin so I do think it can help.

I don’t have periods anymore but when I did I definitely looked better when I was ovulating (higher oestrogen). From a nature point of view that would make sense - we are trying to attract a mate. Apparently our faces are more symmetrical when we are ovulating!

So I’m clinging to the hope that keeping my oestrogen reasonably topped up may help. But I take HRT mainly for all the other benefits.

No - bioidentical HRT does not cause cancer this is a well known fact. The issues were with the old form of synthetic progesterone. Testosterone has actually shown to be potentially cancer reducing.

I think women on HRT seem to have a plumper look to their faces and skin. Like everything's just a bit softer.

I’m mid 50s and didn’t have HRT. I also have no grey hair or wrinkles and get mistaken for much younger.

I noticed this with a few of my friends when all started turning 40…… they weren’t on HRT though, they were having Botox and keeping quiet about it!

Obviously other things help too - genetics, looking after your skin…

But I do think it can be part of the jigsaw.

A quick google confirms that oestrogen plays crucial role in skin health by stimulating the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid.

It maintains skin thickness and elasticity.

I guess the question is whether the oestrogen in HRT is enough. But there is a link between oestrogen levels and our skin.

Oh and I have never used skin products in my life.

not drinking alcohol is anti aging - in our 50s I think we can tell who drink a lot and who doesn’t. That’s probably as big a factor as hrt

https://gremjournal.com/journal/01-2024/menopause-and-the-effects-of-hormone-replacement-therapy-on-skin-aging-a-short-review/

And for some people HRT can cause hair loss
https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt/side-effects-of-hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt/

Maybe they are getting "tweakments" that help them keep looking youthful?

I get occasional Botox (3x in 5 years so not a regular thing) and am getting laser treatment for red veins and freckles. I don't think anyone would know but I do think I look pretty good for 50 (even if I do say so myself).

Following with interest... I'm 42 and for the last year I'm having terrible insomnia and night sweats, brain fog where I just completely forget normal words or why I opened the fridge, mood swings (mainly anxiety to rage) and oh my god the itchy skin... My periods are also longer and heavier at the moment. Planning to try and get an appointment with my doctor to discuss.

Did anyone else have the itchy skin? I've been trying canestcool (I think that's what it's called) and then normal moisturisers elsewhere, but it's horrendous.

The idea all these symptoms would lessen/ stop and I could look younger is very appealing!

Is there any scientific proof it does or is just wishful thinking?

Have you tried an anti histamine once a day? You need to take them regularly to build up.
But yes dry itchy skin is a sign of peri.

The itchy skin is horrendous- especially at night. Another reason why I couldn’t sleep.

I don’t think there’s scientific proof that HRT makes you looks younger- I guess because nobody has studied this or would fund a study on it.

Science does show that oestrogen supports collagen production (and elastin) and when we lose collagen we get wrinkles. So there’s a bit of theorising that keeping oestrogen higher will make skin less wrinkly than it would be otherwise.

I think it helps a bit - along with lots of other lifestyle and genetic factors.