It's a fact of life: As we get older skin wrinkles develop as our skin start to thin. So can wrinkle creams and anti wrinkle treatments help us keep our youthful looks and prevent lines from occuring?
While there are various options to deal with lines once they develop, from wrinkle creams through to our favourite - careful skincare to prevent them from forming in the first place - you need to know all the facts about the options open to you. The question is what can we do to slow the process - what are the best methods of line prevention?
There are a number of things you can do to keep the appearance of youthful skin for as long as possible. The most effective methods of line prevention are:
- Sun protection :
Ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun can injure the skin, causing the support structure to weaken. This is the number one method of line prevention.
- Eliminating Free Radicals :
These are highly reactive molecules created by smoking and UV rays, which can damage skin cells.
- Facial expressions :
While these will affect your skin, it's hard to spend your life not smiling or frowning.
- Diet and exercise :
Eating a diet full of fresh food, particularly fruit and vegetables, and avoiding junk food, will improve the quality of your skin on a long term basis. Similarly, a regular programme of exercise, and avoidance of rapid weight gain and loss, will also help your skin as you get older.
If your skin has already started to wrinkle in a way that bothers you, then there are a number of prodcuts on the market that may help. If buying products, look for those with ingredients that have been scientifically proven to work, such as tretinoin, retinol, amino acids and copper peptides.
Another popular option these days is Botox - an injection into the small muscles underlying visible furrows temporarily paralyzes the muscles and smooths out the skin above.
Finally, you could look at nonablative lasers which help stimulate collagen production in the dermis, plumping up skin without causing injury to the outer layer.
