Influences of Age, Gender, and Body Mass Index on the Depth of the Superficial Fascia of the Arm and Thigh.

BACKGROUND

Nonsurgical skin-tightening procedures are increasing in popularity because of their noninvasiveness as the energy is transdermally applied to the subcutaneous tissues.

OBJECTIVE

To provide precise data on the depth of the superficial fascia for potentially safer and better targeted treatments of arms and thighs.

METHODS

One hundred fifty Caucasian individuals were investigated with an equal distribution of men and women (each n = 75) and a balanced distribution of age (n = 30 per decade). Ultrasound-based measurements were conducted, measuring the distance between skin and the superficial fascia in the posterior arm and the anterior, medial, and posterior thigh.

RESULTS

Deep to the skin, 5 layers were consistently and bilaterally identified in both sexes: skin, superficial fat, superficial fascia, deep fat, and deep fascia. The overall mean distance between the skin surface and the superficial fascia was for the posterior arm 4.38 ± 0.9 mm; range (2.60-6.70), for the anterior thigh 7.90 ± 2.3 mm range (3.50-13.20), for the medial thigh 5.74 ± 1.2 mm range (3.10-8.20), and for the posterior thigh 7.77 ± 3.2 mm range (3.60-14.50).

CONCLUSION

Knowing the precise depth of the superficial fascia for nonsurgical skin-tightening procedures could potentially guide practitioners toward safer and more effective outcomes.