The skin on the back of our hands is very thin to begin with, which can be further influenced by factors like genetics, natural aging, exposure to sunlight, and the use of certain medications.

Besides thin skin, there's very little fat. Which means that even when a very small amount of collagen or elastin fibers begins to break down (which is part natural aging, also accelerated by UV exposure), the impact shows up more noticably on hands.

And the back of hands also have fewer sebaceous glands, which make them more prone to barrier damage.

Sebaceous glands are really tiny glands found in hair follicles that secrete sebum. Sebum plays a critical role in skin health and in protecting your skin from drying out and keeping them soft and supple.

Sebum is made up of complex oils including triglycerides and fatty acid breakdown products, wax esters, squalene, cholesterol esters and cholesterol.

Because of their vital role, hands endure a lot of day-to-day abuse, from basic "life" skin stressors like exposure to hot water, hand-washing, hand sanitizing, chemicals, detergents, yard work (sure), ...

All of these add up and "strip" the skin -- literally strip away the sebum -- making hands more vulnerable to moisture loss, inflammation, irritants, and infection.

And a healthy, moisture-loving, non-inflamed, skin barrier is what keeps our skin dewy and younger-looking.

And we're not good about applying (and reapplying) sunscreen on our hands. Basically, we lack whatever UV-protecting-discipline we may have developed for our faces almost-completely when it comes to our hands. Which means we've arrived at Age Central Station.