Wrinkles are way sneaky!!! They creep up on you and suddenly you don’t look quite the same anymore!$@!%$!!@#! You wake up every morning and rush to get ready for your day. You drink your water, take your vitamin supplements, apply makeup, and get dressed.
Every woman knows that when you apply makeup, you can make some pretty strange facial expressions!! We pucker, squint, smile, and frown to ‘git er done’. Then you suddenly notice that some of your wrinkles just don’t disappear with normal lotions and foundations anymore.
Unfortunately, your skin has memory. If its folded in the same place over and over again, your skin will eventually form a more permanent crease, which is known as a wrinkle.
Some lines form because we express emotions such as happiness or sadness. If you sleep face down, you can cause more premature lines while you sleep.
Unprotected sun exposure is the #1 cause of premature wrinkling of the skin.
Tanning beds and sunburns are major contributors. Even in naturally dark skinned people, sun damage causes 80% - 90% of the visible signs of aging.
Smoking is the #2 cause of premature wrinkles.
Smokers are far more prone to wrinkling around the mouth because of drawing on the cigarette and around the eyes because of squinting from the smoke. Smoking reduces blood flow to the skin, which stunts its ability to repair itself. It also sets off enzymes that attack the tissues of your skin the way meat tenderizers weaken the fibers in meat. Smoking can speed up your skins aging by up to 10 years.
So, can wrinkling be prevented? Can you STOP the visible signs of aging?
The good news is yes you can, if you’re willing to halt basking in the sun for hours. If you want a tan, use tanning lotions. They really work well and have come a long way baby!
Wrinkle Prevention and Treatment
Wear Sunblock - The best sunscreens are broad spectrum sunblocks that have titanium dioxide, Parsol, or Anthelios. Of course, there are other sunblocks that work well too. You just have to read the reviews.
Use Sunblock + Makeup - Foundations and moisturizers may boast an SPF 15. Most make ups are too weak for good protection and cannot be relied upon solely to keep your skin safe.
Protect Your Eyes - Wearing shades or sunglasses with UV ray protection is a must have. Also to keep sunblock out of your eyes, do this. To keep sweat or other moisture from dripping sunblock into your eyes, buy an inexpensive wax based sunblock formulated for lips (like a chapstick) and apply all around the eye area. That way you still get protection and it won’t run into your eyes when you sweat.
No Facial Workouts - Although facial aerobics have been touted in many beauty books for wrinkle prevention, the more you contort the muscles on the face, the more wrinkling you’ll cause. You wind up working the same muscles that caused them in the first place!
Sleep on Your Back - The back is the best anti aging position you can have while you sleep. Sleeping on your side and stomach can cause creases to form on the face. Using satin sheets and/or satin pillow cases are also a major plus when you want to reduce wrinkles. The satin material discourages marks or lines on your face as opposed to regular cotton materials!
Dress to Protect - Aside from covering up in the sun, there are more and more products available that have sun protection built right into them. You can buy bathing suits, umbrellas, and other clothing that offer both UVA and UVB protection.
Feed Your Skin - Eating lots of fresh vegetables, whole grains, and fruits are very beneficial to your skin. Vitamin supplements like Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Biotin, and Selenium are all an important part of anti aging skin care. If you can't get the nutrition you need from food, use meal replacements that have good nutrition in them. You can buy products like Ensure and Slim Fast and you'll get some of the nutrients your body craves.
Stop Smoking - Quitting smoking is hard to do I know. However, if you want healthier looking younger skin, you’ll need to stop smoking. Try products like Nicoderm CQ Smoking Cessation Patch which has had great reviews!
Reduce Stress - Stress and worry cause you to contort your face and frown. Deep creases form when you keep your face in precarious positions for excessive lengths of time. Learn how to reduce stress by doing calming exercises or relaxing. Stress can cause premature aging. That's a major downer!
You can help reduce wrinkles if you just stay out of the sun between 10am and 4pm. These are the worst, hottest times of the day where the sun can do its worst damage.
Opt to go into the sun before or after these hours and you can help undo some of the damage to your skin!
Removing skin layers to reduce deep lines or irregular depressions is an effective way to regain smoother, more youthful skin. Dermabrasion (scraping layers away) and chemical peels (dissolving skin away) are two traditional methods used in skin resurfacing. Aside from these procedures, two newer techniques are laser skin resurfacing and Botox injections. These are the latest techniques developed to repair aging skin and wrinkles.
If you are considering treatment for your wrinkling, you'll need to ask your doctor which procedure is right for you. Each person is different and has different needs. Each product or procedure fulfills its own specific need.
# Tretinoin, or Retin A # Botox - Botox is the brand name of a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.Small, diluted amounts can be directly injected into specific muscles causing controlled weakening of the muscles. # Chemical Peel - Chemical peels, also known as chemexfoliation, tri-choloracetic acid treatments, or derma-peeling, are a technique used to improve the appearance of the skin. You can now buy them for home use, which makes them absolutely perfect for home skin care!
If you are considering Dermabrasion, try a microdermabrasion scrub first. There are many good ones on the market! Dermabrasion treatments can help relax deep facial wrinkling.