Scientists detect hidden skin damage before it becomes visible

Scientists have discovered a hidden warning sign of skin damage that appears before collagen fibers visibly thin, break, or lose their connections.

Using advanced light-based techniques, the team found that collagen’s carefully organized molecular “handedness” can collapse even while the tissue still appears structurally intact and contains the same amount of collagen.

This suggests that skin may begin deteriorating at a much deeper level long before conventional imaging can detect a problem. ...