With all the content available online these days, it can be hard to figure out what’s real and what’s hype.While we don’t always have the answers, we have a direct line to people who do — which is why we present to you our series The Internet Made Me Ask, where we have experts break down the truth about some of the buzziest trends (and questions) on our timelines, like how often you should be cleaning your makeup brushes.Zombie skin may sound like another TikTok beauty gimmick (or your next Halloween costume), but it’s actually a real thing that could be impacting your complexion.
Zombie skin cells don’t die off like normal cells.Instead, they stop dividing and linger, releasing inflammatory signals that can damage healthy cells nearby.
Over time, that buildup is thought to contribute to fine lines, loss of firmness and uneven tone.Everyone accumulates these cells with age, but certain things can speed them up.
To learn more, I spoke with two board-certified dermatologists about what zombie skin cells are, what causes them and how to treat them.What are zombie skin cells? Zombie cells is a fitting nickname for this naturally-occurring process.“Zombie cells refers to skin cells that have entered a process called senescence, where they can no longer replicate but remain active in the body’s metabolic system,” says Dr.
Sophia Reid, a dual board-certified physician in dermatology and obesity medicine and founder of Skin Secrets Dermatology, Aesthetics & Wellness in Park Ridge, New Jersey.“This is typically caused by aging or damage from UV exposure, radiation or other natural stressors.”To understand how these cells form, it helps to know how healthy cells normally behave.
“Under normal circumstances, our cells divide, repair damage, die, and then are eventually cleared away via other cellular processes,” says Dr.Pearl Ugwu-Dike, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City.
But cells under significant stress can take a diff...