Researchers Studying skin damage have found that women surpass men in one area they may wish they did not: how quickly their skin ages.

The researchers, whose article appears in the current issue of Optics Letters, were not interested in who ages better but instead were trying to develop a way to assess skin damage without having to remove a sample. Working at German research centers, they found that using experimental laser-based technology allowed them to peer several layers into the skin and assess markers of damage from sun, aging and disease.

Until now, doctors who wanted to make such evaluations had to cut out a piece of skin, the researchers said. But the new equipment allowed them to look at deep layers of skin, gauging, among other things, the levels of collagen and elastin. As those components of the skin break down, people begin to look older.

The researchers tested the technique by looking at people’s forearms, and found that even for the same person there could be big variations. In a 35-year-old, the researchers said, some areas of the forearm can look as if they belong on someone 10 years younger, while others would not look out of place on someone twice their age.

But as a general rule, the levels of collagen and elastin dropped with age. And the researchers noticed that women seemed to lose collagen more rapidly then men.

A co-author of the paper, Dr. Johannes Koehler, emphasized that the study was small and still in its early stages. But if it turns out to be true that women’s skin ages faster, he said, it may have to do with menopause-related declines in estrogen and progesterone.

If the new laser technique pans out over the long run, the researchers said, it could help doctors understand diseases that involve the collagen structure.