What are Lines and Wrinkles?
Wrinkles are the lines and creases that form in your skin. Some wrinkles can become deep crevices or furrows and may be especially noticeable around your eyes, mouth and neck.
How do facial lines and wrinkles form?
- Ageing processes
- Sun damage
- Muscle movement
- Skin tension
- Gravity
- Injury
- Surgery
- Acne
- Other skin diseases with a tendency to scar (eg, discoid lupus erythematosus)
- Smoking
Wrinkles are a natural part of the ageing process. As people get older, their skin becomes thinner, drier, and less elastic, which means it is less able to protect itself from damage. This leads to wrinkles, creases, and lines on the skin. Facial expressions, such as smiling, frowning, or squinting, lead to the development of fine lines and wrinkles at a young age. These lines deepen as the person gets older. When a person is young, their skin springs back. As they get older, the skin loses its flexibility, and it becomes more difficult for the skin to spring back, resulting in permanent grooves. Wrinkles affect people of different skin tones differently due to structural and functional differences in the skin.
Prevention
Everybody gets wrinkles and lines that become more prominent over time. Some ways to prevent or reduce their development include:
• Botulinum toxin. ‘Bo-tox’ can be used to relax muscles causing lines and wrinkles to form. It is a prescription drug which is most commonly injected around the eyes – ‘crow’s feet’, frown lines and upper forehead. Bo-tox carries very few side effects and can last for up to 3 months, during which time patients reports a smoother, younger, wrinkle-free complexion. You must not be pregnant or breast-feeding to have this procedure carried out.
• Using sun protection. Avoiding UV exposure reduces skin damage. Dermatologists recommend wearing a hat and clothing to protect the skin and using a sunscreen of SPF 50 – Obagi SPF 50 is a fantastic medical skincare product to protect the skin from photo-ageing. SPF should be worn on a daily basis regardless of sunny weather or not.
• Quitting smoking. Smoking greatly speeds up skin ageing and causes skin wrinkles.
• Drinking less alcohol. Alcohol dehydrates the skin, which causes damage over time.
• Eating a healthful, balanced diet. Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables can prevent skin damage, whereas sugar and refined carbs can speed up skin ageing.
• Drinking more water
• Washing your face twice a day. Use a gentle cleanser. Rubbing the skin can cause irritation and speed up skin ageing.
• Washing your face after heavy sweating. Sweat can irritate the skin, causing damage over time. This is especially true when wearing a hat or helmet.