The Fight against Wrinkles

We spend a fortune in our battle against wrinkles. Even the world wide recession hasn’t stopped us from buying those over-priced pots. I read recently that the sales in cosmetic products was higher in 2011 than before the crisis! Even when there’s not one piece of evidence that those creams can do anything about your wrinkles. And in most cases there is no more in the very expensive pots than in the faithful old blue pot. Fortunately there are reliable products around containing ingredients which are beneficial for your skin. Products that can make your skin healthy, radiant and calm, and help towards preventing skin ageing. I have written in an earlier blog about these substances.

 

 

 

Prevention is better than cure

The most important thing which you can do to prevent wrinkles is, of course, to protect your skin from the sun. But there are more measures which you can take. I have already discussed in my previous blog that stress has an unbelievable effect on your skin; long term stress can really accelerate ageing of your skin. Nutrition is also of essential importance. Food rich in anti-oxidants and essential fatty acids protects your skin against wrinkles, whilst food containing lots of carbohydrates (sugars) weakens your collagen and the elastin in your skin becomes like an old rubber band. In some people who are sensitive to it, certain foods which activate alot of histamines aren’t very good; It’s worthwhile looking into this if you often suffer from irritated skin. Smoking, of course, is a well known cause of wrinkles. Smoking causes the blood to flow less efficiently in the skin and a large increase in the number of free radicals. The result; the skin becomes thicker, takes on an unhealthy pale colour and wrinkles appear prematurely. Less well known is the effect of weight on skin ageing; people who are overweight before the age of 40 suffer more from skin ageing, while a long term low calorie diet seems to delay the ageing process (study: Masoro EJ, overview of caloric restriction and ageing). Irritating cosmetic products are also, sadly, notorious wrinkle causers.

 

Concentration, laughter, frown and sleep lines

I’ve still got another important factor which I haven’t yet named that also causes wrinkles and that is skin friction. Through frequent movement of the skin the connective tissue is weakened in the places which are frequently stretched. Just take a look in the mirror at your frown and laughter lines. And that is exactly the principle of Botox. Because you are no longer able to frown the wrinkles in your forehead disappear. It’s not for nothing that the 20 year old girls in America are all having botox. A severe measure, but it does, indeed, prevent wrinkles in those areas. If you think (like me) that this is going a bit too far, then I’ve still got a couple of less harsh measures. According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) results of certain sleeping positions which cause fine lines that disappear after a couple of hours will eventually lead to permanent wrinkles. Sleeping on your side leads to wrinkles on your chin and your cheeks and sleeping on your front gives you frown lines. According to the Dermatologists, sleeping on your back is better. It will also save cleavage wrinkles. If you are unable to do this then there are special bras which you can wear. This time I’ll spare you from my detailed comments in the Financial Newspaper…

 

From chewing wrinkles to the budget deficit

It’s not only people with lively facial expressions, side and front sleepers but also avid gum chewers who are prone to wrinkles. According to Dermatologist Dr. Joel Schlessinger, Dr. Hema Sundaram and Dr. Janet Wu , frequently chewing gum is disastrous for your skin and gum chewers develop a typical wrinkle pattern around the mouth. Of course I checked straight away if this has been researched, but unfortunately there isn’t one study to be found which proves this. Even so this story sounds plausible enough to advise avid chewers to give them a miss and replace with a peppermint. And what a saving that would be! In North America alone, 1.3 billion dollars is spent on chewing gum. And that’s not taking into account the cleaning costs; all the pavements, tables and undersides of aeroplane seats from which the chewing gum needs to be removed. If you add up how much anti-wrinkle cream that would save us I think we may have found the solution for the budget deficit! And just in time for budget day…

Regards Jetske

(Dr. Jetske Ultee-Research Physician Cosmetic Dermatology)

You can also read the blogs:
‘The Recipe for Beautiful Skin‘,
‘The Recipe for Beautiful Skin II‘,
‘The Battle against Wrinkles: No Time to Waste‘,
‘The Search for Your Perfect Cream‘,
‘Ageing Skin through Pigmentation‘,
‘Ageing Skin Behind Glass‘