Globusz^® Publishing 

rinkles – those bitter reminders of the aging process – are a natural phenomenon that occurs in all of us.

As we get on in years, the skin, for a number of reasons, begins to lose its elasticity, its flexibility, and its resiliency. It becomes thinner, fine lines develop, and then – horror of horrors – wrinkles.

What really happens to our skin, as we grow older? The sweat glands and oil glands, which for many years have provided moisture and lubrication to the skin, get weary, work less, and diminish in size and number. The greater portion of the oils that have made the skin smooth and supple, as well as the fluid from the sweat glands that have kept the cells plumped up and rounded, have for the most part disappeared, leaving the surface dry and cracked.

The fibers that support the skin begin to lose their strength and elasticity. Remember the old elevated trains? Just imagine that the pillars – the structures supporting the tracks – suddenly begin to bend, break, or crumble. What happens to the train and tracks? All fall down . . . . That’s basically what happens to the skin. The supporting collagen and elastic fibers deteriorate, and the skin begins to sag over the weakened and broken understructure.

There is also a reduction in the supply of beneficial hormones delivered to the skin cells. As a result, the fat pads in the skin begin to shrink, and certain fibers, which attach the skin to the muscles, relax and become weak, causing sagging and wrinkles.

Another type of aging skin is photoaging – a type of skin change that is due almost exclusively to sun exposure. Photoaged skin is wrinkled, yellowish, rough, lax, and leathery and has spotty pigmentation and fine veins over the cheeks and nose. “Normal” aged skin – due to heredity and the aging process – is thinner, and there is loss of elasticity and a deepening of the normal expression lines.

How much you wrinkle and at what age are influenced by other factors as well:

• Hereditary factors play a major role in the production of wrinkles. People with thin skin – the Irish and Scottish, for example – age more rapidly than “thick-skinned” individuals. Black people rarely, if ever, develop wrinkles unless they have been exposed to the sun for a lifetime.

• Exaggerated facial expressions, such as excessive laughing and frowning, and rough massages and facial exercises also weaken the elastic fibers and lead to premature wrinkling: horizontal lines of the forehead, “crow’s feet” about the eyes, “laugh lines,” and others. There is an old witticism that contends, “the woman who never smiles, smokes or suns never develops wrinkles!”

• Sudden weight loss, due to diet or disease, also contributes to lines and wrinkles. After having been stretched out of shape for many years, the skin is unable to retract and so begins to hang in folds. This is comparable to what happens to a person’s clothes after he or she loses a great deal of weight. They become loose, baggy, and begin to rumple. And, as our bones and fat and muscles shrink, the skin around them becomes loose and baggy.

• Excessive smoking appears to be a contributing factor in the formation of wrinkles. Did you ever notice how smokers screw up their faces to prevent smoke from getting in their eyes? This, coupled with a decrease in the circulation of blood to the facial skin, results in premature lines and wrinkles, particularly in lines of the upper lip (“whistler’s wrinkles”) and around the mouth.

• Exposure to the elements – heat, cold, wind, and especially sunlight – hastens and aggravates the natural aging process. You’ll note that the skin of the buttocks shows none of the degenerative and aging changes that we observe on the skin exposed to the sun – the face, neck, hands, and forearms. The covered portions of your body are young; your sun-exposed parts are old . . . .

• Excessive washing and scrubbing, especially with harsh soaps and very hot water, contribute to breakage of the elastic fibers and tend to dissolve the essential oils that help nourish the skin.

Aging and wrinkling vary from person to person, so there is no hard and fast rule to pinpoint the exact decade when a person will begin to experience these hallmarks of decline. As a rule, however, in the 40s and 50s, there is a progressive shrinking of body substance – bone, fat, muscle, and fluid – but not of the skin. This loss of tissue volume, coupled with the weakening of the elasticity of the skin, leads to sagging.

Sagging occurs first where the skin is thinnest: the eyelids, neck, and jaw lines. Jowls develop, the neck becomes creased, lines begin to radiate from the mouth, and “crow’s feet” and “bags” develop about the eyes. All this is a result of too much facial skin to cover the diminished amount of underlying tissue.

Can we do anything about wrinkles? Yes, but there are no types of cosmetic creams, potions, facial masks, exercises, acupuncture, laser treatments, injections of fetal cells, wrinkle ironing, or massages that can flatten out or permanently erase lines and wrinkles.

Mink oil, turtle oil, placenta extract and other expensive rejuvenating creams, “wrinkle creams,” and facial masks do nothing more than offer temporary relief from dryness by lubricating and softening the roughened, weather-beaten skin. Likewise, those facial saunas and the “electric needle” treatments have no lasting effect on dryness, lines, or wrinkles.

Masks, saunas, and the like can provide some psychological benefits, but let’s not fool ourselves: their permanent effect on the skin is zero. They cannot prevent, postpone or minimize the effects of the aging process. However, they probably won’t harm you either – so if they make you feel good, enjoy them!

There are some things you can do to forestall the wrinkling process:

• Avoid the sun! I cannot stress this enough. In otherwise healthy people, sun exposure is the principal cause not only of wrinkles, aging skin, and other degenerative changes, but also skin cancers.

• Avoid extremes of heat and cold, and protect your face against the wind and rain and snow.

• Wash your face with a gentle soap or cleanser and avoid excessively hot water and harsh cleansers.

• Do not lose and gain weight – off again, on again – like a yo-yo. The constant expansion and contraction of the skin will only tire out the elastic fibers.

• No facial exercises or isometrics. These, when overdone, can cause a breakdown of the elastic fibers and the collagen in the skin.

• And cut down on smoking.

There are scores of old and new products and procedures that claim to remove, or at least diminish, the wrinkling and anti-aging processes.

Topical (surface) products:

• Vitamin C Cream (Cell-C)
• Active C (Laboratories La Roche Posay, France)
• NeoStrata SkinCeuticals line
• Alpha hydroxy acids
• Beta hydroxy acids
• Renova
• Retin-A Creams & Gels & Solutions
• Retin-A Micro
• Retinol in various products
• Avita Cream & Gel
• Kinerase (Cream and Lotion)
• Ubiquinone (Coenzyme-Q10) and dozens more

Injectable products:

• Collagen (Zyderm and Zyplast)
• Silicone
• Botox (Botulinum toxin)
• Dermalogen (collagen protein taken from cadavers and injected)

Surgical procedures:

• Dermabrasion

• Microdermabrasion – the outer layer of skin is stripped off with a sandblasting technique of sodium bicarbonate crystals or aluminum hydroxide blown onto the skin and then vacuumed away. The old skin is purportedly replaced by smoother, younger skin.

• Chemical Peels. Removal of the upper layers of the skin with a chemical, usually trichloracetic acid (TCA), salicylic acid, glycolic acid, resorcinol or phenol.

• Fat Transfer (Microliposuction). Your own fat is removed from your thigh. Buttocks or abdomen and injected into the wrinkles at the sides of the nose and chin.

• Resurfacing Laser Surgery. High-energy lasers that generate heat to remove the outer skin and wrinkles, reduce the discoloration, and improves the leathery texturedue to sun-baked skin. This procedure is usually done around the eyes, the forehead and the upper lip. Types of lasers used are: Carbon Dioxide (CO2); Erbium YAG; Nlite; CoolTouch^TM Gore-Tex^TM. An inert substance that helps fill in lines in the lower third of the face.

Check with your dermatologist about all the above. Try out some samples either from the dermatologist’s office or the cosmetic counters. There is no “one good product” for everyone’s face. Remember: you are unique, and a product that your friend or sister might be using, may cause burning, itching or swelling of the areas you are applying it to. And if it does agree with you, please be patient. Many of these work only after having used them for several weeks or months.

If you already have wrinkles, and if they are causing you great anguish, your only other options are cosmetic surgery or one of the above procedures. If you can afford it . . . . The rewards can be great, but only you can decide whether you want to alter nature – or let it take its course and grow old gracefully . . . .

For further information about wrinkles, log on to: www.aad.org 1-888-462-DERM x22 1-800-441-2737

RECAP

• Aging skin undergoes alterations in structure and function that significantly modify its appearance, and while these problems are often medically insignificant and are not life threatening, they are of profound cosmetic concern and detract from the quality of life for many older people.

• Hereditary factors play a major role in the production of wrinkles. People with thin skin – the Irish and Scottish, for example – age more rapidly than “thick-skinned” individuals. Black people rarely, if ever, develop wrinkles unless they have been exposed to the sun for a lifetime.

• Aging and wrinkling vary from person to person, so there is no hard and fast rule to pinpoint the exact decade when a person will begin to experience these hallmarks of decline.