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Hair and skin

Does skin collagen drop after menopause? What the small older studies show

By Anna Winbrown ยท Published October 18, 2026

Probably yes, but the evidence is small and old. Four studies from 1987 to 1999 measured skin collagen in postmenopausal women and found it fell with years since menopause; one reported a decline of between 1-2% per year. [1][2][3][4] The widely repeated claim that women lose 30% of their skin collagen in the first five years is not in any of those abstracts, and we could not find a primary source for it.

A woman in a raspberry sweater sitting beside a window.

Does skin collagen drop after menopause?

The studies we found say it does, though they are small. In a 1987 study in Obstetrics and Gynecology, skin collagen content, skin thickness, metacarpal index and forearm bone mineral content in postmenopausal women all showed a similar decline of between 1-2% per year after the menopause. [1] The authors reported that all four measures declined significantly when compared with the years from the menopause. [1] The abstract does not give the number of women. [1]

A second 1987 paper in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology measured thigh skin collagen content and metacarpal index in 69 untreated postmenopausal women and in 37 postmenopausal women who had received oestradiol and testosterone implants for 2 to 10 years. [2] In the untreated group there was a statistically significant decrease in both thigh skin collagen content and metacarpal index with the years since the menopause. [2]

What did the later studies find?

A 1992 study in Maturitas by Castelo-Branco and colleagues took skin biopsies from the lower abdomen. [3] It included 76 nulliparous women hospitalized for minor operations, grouped by decade of age from their 20s to their 60s, and 118 postmenopausal women randomly allocated to one of four groups, with 312 biopsies taken at 0 and 12 months. [3] Collagen content decreased significantly with age beyond the 40s (P < 0.001) and after the menopause (P < 0.01). [3]

A 1999 study in Maturitas by Affinito and colleagues used skin biopsies taken during laparotomy in 32 women aged 28 to 68, of whom 14 were premenopausal and 18 postmenopausal. [4] Collagen type I, type III and the type III/type I ratio were significantly lower (P < 0.01) in the postmenopausal women than in the premenopausal women. [4] Among postmenopausal women, the percentages of collagen type I, type III and the III/I ratio showed a significant inverse correlation with years of postmenopause (r = 0.76, 0.73 and 0.73). [4] The authors suggested the decrease in skin collagen is an estrogen-related phenomenon. [4]

Why we call these small and old: the samples run from 32 to 194 women, the studies are from 1987 to 1999, and they sampled different body sites, such as the thigh and the lower abdomen. [1][2][3][4] Affinito also found that collagen was strongly correlated with chronological age across all patients, so age and menopause are hard to separate in a sample that size. [4] Two of these papers also studied hormone replacement therapy, and whether to use it is a decision for you and your clinician. [2][3]

Do women lose 30% of their skin collagen in five years?

You will see this figure online, often as a fact. It is not in the four primary abstracts above, and we could not find a primary source for it. [1][2][3][4] The one rate the primary abstracts give is the 1987 study's decline of between 1-2% per year after the menopause, and that figure applies to skin collagen content, skin thickness, metacarpal index and forearm bone mineral content together. [1] If you multiply 1-2% by five years you get a much smaller number than 30%, but that is our arithmetic, not a finding, and the abstract does not say the decline is steady. [1] Treat any exact percentage with caution.

What does the National Institute on Aging say about skin and menopause?

Less than the internet does. In its overview of menopause, the National Institute on Aging says your body could seem different: you could lose muscle and gain fat, and your skin could become thinner and drier. [5] It adds that researchers are exploring such changes and how they relate to hormone changes and growing older. [5] That is a description of what some women notice, not a measured collagen figure. [5]

What can you do about it?

The honest practical answer is short. The only skin-aging habit we found with a randomized trial behind it is daily sunscreen: in a 2013 trial of 903 adults younger than 55, skin aging after 4.5 years was 24% less in the daily sunscreen group than in the discretionary sunscreen group, with a relative odds of 0.76 (95% CI 0.59 to 0.98). [6] We cover the trial, and what the American Academy of Dermatology recommends, in the one anti-aging habit with a randomized trial.

What about collagen supplements? We do not recommend them. We looked for a government or professional-society page assessing oral collagen for skin aging, and we found no guideline that recommends them. That is not proof they do nothing; it means we cannot point you to a source that says they work.

What to ask at the appointment

Whether anything about your skin, such as new dryness or thinning, needs a closer look. [5] What you take, including any collagen product, so your clinician can weigh it. If you are curious about hormone therapy, it is a decision to make with your clinician, and these four studies were not designed to guide it. [2][3] And how to protect your skin from the sun, which is the one habit with trial evidence. [6]

When to talk to your clinician

The National Institute on Aging says that if you are concerned about your symptoms, you should follow up with a doctor. [5] A skin change that worries you deserves a look from a clinician or dermatologist rather than a guess from an article about collagen. This page describes what a handful of older studies found; it cannot tell you what is happening in your skin. [1]

Sources

  1. Brincat M, Kabalan S, Studd JW, Moniz CF, de Trafford J, Montgomery J. A study of the decrease of skin collagen content, skin thickness, and bone mass in the postmenopausal woman. Obstet Gynecol. 1987;70(6):840-5 (PubMed abstract, PMID 3120067). Published December 1987. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
  2. Brincat M, Moniz CF, Kabalan S, Versi E, O'Dowd T, Magos AL, Montgomery J, Studd JW. Decline in skin collagen content and metacarpal index after the menopause and its prevention with sex hormone replacement. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1987;94(2):126-9 (PubMed abstract, PMID 3828252). Published February 1987. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
  3. Castelo-Branco C, Duran M, Gonzalez-Merlo J. Skin collagen changes related to age and hormone replacement therapy. Maturitas. 1992;15(2):113-9 (PubMed abstract, PMID 1345134). Published October 1992. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
  4. Affinito P, Palomba S, Sorrentino C, et al. Effects of postmenopausal hypoestrogenism on skin collagen. Maturitas. 1999;33(3):239-47 (PubMed abstract, PMID 10656502). Published December 15, 1999. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
  5. National Institute on Aging, What Is Menopause? Content reviewed October 16, 2024. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
  6. Hughes MC, Williams GM, Baker P, Green AC. Sunscreen and prevention of skin aging: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2013;158(11):781-90 (PubMed abstract, PMID 23732711). Published June 4, 2013. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Every statement above was checked against the linked source on the date shown. This article is education, not individual medical advice. Related: The one anti-aging habit with a randomized trial Signs of perimenopause