What Causes Wrinkles Anyway? How Wrinkles and Sagging Skin Form
Posted June 24, 2019 in Blepharoplasty, CO? Laser, Facelift
Smooth, firm, and healthy-looking skin is desired by many people, especially as time goes on and the effects of gravity set in. Youthful skin relies on your body’s ability to produce and maintain a variety of substances, including collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid. Unfortunately, these ingredients break down and are not as readily reproduced as you age, and when this occurs, your skin becomes thinner and more fragile with fine lines, deep wrinkles, and sagging skin.
Why Are Collagen, Elastin, and Hyaluronic Acid Important?
Collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid work together to maintain softness and suppleness in all three layers of the skin—the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue layer. Collagen is a protein that provides the tissues with strength and structure. Elastin is the protein that gives skin its flexibility and ability to bounce back after movement or trauma. And hyaluronic acid attracts moisture to keep cells hydrated and moisturized. This is essential for cell growth and renewal.
Without adequate levels of these three elements, skin becomes dry, wrinkled, and starts to sag.
What Contributes to Collagen, Elastin, and Hyaluronic Acid Depletion?
Your skin produces large amounts of these substances when you are young. Sadly, this diminishes naturally with age, and external factors speed up the rate at which it occurs. These factors include:
Sun Damage
Prolonged exposure to harmful UV rays affects the connective tissues in the skin and slows down the rate of cell renewal. Sun exposure leads to fine lines, wrinkles, age spots, and tone and texture irregularities.
Repeated Facial Expressions
Repeated facial expressions are one of the primary causes of wrinkles and fine lines. The tissue trauma caused by these movements gradually breaks down the strength and flexibility of the muscles, and the temporary lines they create become permanent. Frown lines, forehead lines, and wrinkles between the nose and mouth are commonly caused by repeated facial expressions.
Unhealthy Lifestyles and Environmental Factors
Smoking, excessive drinking, poor diet, and pollution cause the skin to become thinner and duller. Thin skin is much more susceptible to imperfections such as wrinkles, blemishes, rough spots, and pigmentation irregularities.
Restore Youthful-Looking Skin
Your Non-Surgical Options
Many signs of aging can be lessened through the use of non-invasive cosmetic treatments. These can be performed alone or as a complement to a surgical procedure.
Injectable treatments restore a youthful facial appearance by directly combating the causes of aging. JUVÉDERM® and Restylane® are hyaluronic acid fillers that work just as natural hyaluronic acid would. These treatments, along with Sculptra® Aesthetic, stimulate the production of collagen to restore the strength of your skin naturally. These treatments temporarily return lost volume in areas around the mouth, cheeks, lips, and the chin.
Neuromodulators, such as BOTOX® Cosmetic and Dysport®, target the lines and wrinkles around the eyes and brows that are caused by repeated muscle movements. They work by temporarily blocking the muscle’s ability to contract to form crow’s feet, frown lines, and forehead lines.
Laser resurfacing treatments like CO2 lasers, work to combat lines and wrinkles and restore a smoother complexion. The CO2 laser stimulates collagen production and helps with pigmentation irregularities caused by sun damage and other environmental factors.
Your Surgical Options
When your level of facial aging goes beyond what can be treated through non-invasive means, cosmetic surgery can help. Facelift surgery targets fine lines, wrinkles, and volume loss—including hollowed cheeks, jowls, and neck laxity on the lower two-thirds of the face. Blepharoplasty targets aging on the upper and lower eyelids. This surgery trims excess skin and removes or repositions fat pockets to reduce upper eyelid hooding (which can improve your range of vision) and minimize bags beneath the eyes. Crow’s feet can also be lessened with blepharoplasty.
Contact Us Today!
If facial lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin are affecting your confidence levels, a cosmetic procedure may be able to help. Contact Careaga Plastic Surgery today to learn more about these or any other cosmetic treatment. Call our office at (305) 960-7511 or fill out our online contact form.