Aging causes some dramatic changes in the skin. While we
tend to notice the changes mostly on the face, the entire epidermis is affected. The
palms of the hands and soles of the feet, being somewhat differently structured than the
rest of the epidermis, show the aging process in a different
way.
The main cause of redness of the palms is thinning of
the epidermis. Although the total number of epidermal layers remains constant, the
number and thickness of the cells in each layer gradually diminishes as we age. The
number of melanocytes, which create epidermal pigmentation, also decreases. The palms
and soles, which have fewer melanocytes to begin with, become virtually
unpigmented.
The lack of pigmentation, combined with a
thinner top layer, makes the skin of the palms translucent, and the color of the blood
in the underlying blood vessels becomes more apparent, leading to the appearance of
reddened palms.
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