Long-term effects of hormone therapy on skin rigidity and wrinkles

Objective: To evaluate the effects of long-term hormone therapy (HT) on skin rigidity and wrinkling. Design: Single blinded cross-sectional analysis. Setting: Academic medical centre. Patient(s): Sixty-five long-term HT users who underwent menopause at least 5 years before evaluation and who have either consistently used HT or have never used HT. Intervention(s): Visual assessment of severity of wrinkles at 11 facial locations using the Lemperle scale by a plastic surgeon blinded to HT use. Measurement of skin rigidity at the cheek and forehead with a durometer. Main Outcome Measure(s): Lemperle wrinkle score and skin rigidity. Result(s): Twenty women met inclusion criteria. Eleven women who had not used HT were compared to nine long-term HT users. Demographics including age, race, sun exposure, sunscreen use, tobacco use, and skin type were similar. rigidity was significantly decreased in HT users compared to non-users at both the cheek (1.1 vs. 2.7) and forehead (20 vs. 29). Average wrinkle scores were lower in hormone users than in nonhormone users (1.5 vs. 2.2). Conclusion(s): Long-term postmenopausal HT users have more elastic skin and less severe wrinkling than women who never used HT, suggesting that hormone therapy may have cosmetic benefits.