What Estrogen Does to Your Skin (And What Actually Works)

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Tony Youn, a board certified plastic surgeon nationally recognized as one of the top plastic surgeons in the United States, bestselling author of Younger for Life, and the most followed plastic surgeon on social media with more than five million YouTube subscribers and eight million TikTok followers. In part one of this two part conversation, they take on a question that sits at the intersection of hormones and skin health that most doctors have never connected for their patients: what estrogen is actually doing to the skin, and what women can do about it.

Dr. Youn opens with a statistic that women lose 30% of the thickness of their collagen in the first five years after menopause, and then continue losing collagen at twice the rate of men for every year that follows. He explains exactly why this happens, how estrogen interacts with the fibroblasts that produce collagen and elastin, what declining estrogen does to hyaluronic acid and skin hydration, and why women are not imagining it when their skincare suddenly stops working.

Guest links:

Anthony Youn, MD

Tony Youn, MD (Instagram)

Doctor Youn (TikTok)

Dr. Anthony Youn (Facebook)

Doctor Youn (YouTube)

The Doctor Youn Show (Apple Podcasts)

Books

“The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver

“The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver
“Younger for Life: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity, Nutrition and Self-Care for a Youthful Life,” by Anthony Youn

"Playing God" by Anthony Youn

"The Age Fix" by Anthony Youn