Your No-BS Wrinkle Erasing Guide
As we age, we gain wisdom, and with those,
like an unwelcome hitchhiker, come wrinkles. This process is natural and
inevitable, though it can be unnaturally accelerated through exposure
to UVA sun rays and excessive stress. Every process in our body slows
down, and that includes collagen production. This makes our bones more
fragile and our skin less toned. The skin is the largest organ in the
body and it varies to an incredible degree: it can be as thin as 0.07 mm
on our eyelids or more than twice as thick on our upper back. This
affects wrinkle accumulation. In this article, we will discuss neck and
facial wrinkles and the best ways to smooth them.
Why do we get wrinkles?
As always, we'd like to take an educational
approach to this subject, so before we start using jargon and sprinkle
the word "collagen" all over this article, it's important to establish
what it is in the first place. Collagen is a protein found not only in
our skin but also in our bones, blood vessels, tendons, ligaments, and
muscles. Or, in short, in almost every connective tissue. It holds
everything in place. As we mentioned in the introduction, the natural
production of collagen degrades over time, causing our skin to decrease
in elasticity. As the collagen in the skin diminishes, along with fat
and water stored in the skin, the skin shrinks - causing a wrinkly look.
Neck wrinkles will usually appear around your 40s and 50s. The skin of
the neck is sensitive and even thinner than that on our faces.
Prevent wrinkles with SPF
As with everything related to our body and
health, preventing and performing daily upkeep is much easier than
treating a problem once it has occurred. Your number one step to
preventing wrinkles is the vigorous use of sunscreen. That is because
the UVA rays emitted by the sun are the number one cause of premature
aging. The sun emits both UVA and UVB rays. However, they differ in
wavelength. UVB will burn you (remember B for burning) while UVA will
cause long-term damage of aging: wrinkles and sunspots (remember A for
aging). UVA rays are longer than UVB, meaning they can penetrate through
clouds and windows. Therefore it is recommended to wear sunscreen every
day of the year, even while staying indoors. On sunnier days, renew
your layer every 2 hours.
Facial Yoga
Facial yoga or facial exercises will help
you increase blood flow and with it oxygenation to the area. It will
also help with proper drainage and tightening the muscles of the neck
and face area to keep everything looking tight. This goes under the
category of traditional medicine (as opposed to western medicine),
meaning it has been done for ages, but there isn't any modern scientific
research to elaborate on and support its benefits. As the current
research stands, facial yoga or yoga, in general, will have the same
effects on your body, which is increased flexibility, more oxygen in the
blood, and better posture. The latter can help with "tech-neck", the
horizontal lines we get on our neck when we look down all day at a
screen. Fixing your posture can help with that.
Additional practices in that same category are facial cupping (rooted in
Chinese culture), facial massages, using jade rollers, or gua-sha. Note
that facial cupping is not recommended for those who have rosacea. As
for the use of facial massaging tools, we'd like to debunk the myth that
they will increase the production of collagen in the skin. There is no
harm in using those tools. They may only help with a most temporary
de-puffing of the face, but at the very least they're a nice pampering
ritual for a relaxing moment at the end of a long day.
However, they will not smooth out your wrinkles. For maximum de-puffing
effect, keep them in the fridge. Some manufacturers market the use of a
jade roller specifically. Choosing a healing stone over a steel roller
is up to whether you believe in their healing powers or not. But if you
do, then please review this guide on how to recognize a fake stone.
As for how to use them, since they're a porous stone we would recommend
washing your face, drying it, having the roll, and then finishing with
your facial creams and serums. Wash your roller after each use.
Habits to acquire and habits to avoid.
Habits to acquire and habits to avoid.
Some of your daily habits that can prevent
premature wrinkles are:
1. Sleeping on your back. This will diminish a puffy face when waking
up.
2. Regular exercising.
3. Incorporate vegetables, fruits, and anti-oxidant foods into your
diet. Avoid processed foods.
4. Find a way to manage stress in your life.
5. Try a silicon patch for hydration and smoothing out wrinkles. These
go on the face, neck, and chest. You can purchase them online and in
drug stores, but make sure to search for medical-grade silicone ones.
6. Get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep.
7. Stay hydrated and apply your sunscreen every single day of the year.
Now, let's discuss what to avoid.
1. Any DIY treatments at home that call to apply anything from your
kitchen to your face are not always recommended and should preferably be
avoided. That is because, while natural, the active components of foods
are not formulated to be put on your face. Acidic and harsh chemicals
found in lemon, vinegar, and baking soda can irritate your skin. If they
don't irritate you, they also won't yield long-lasting
wrinkle-repairing results as, again, they are not formulated to
penetrate the cells of your skin. There is a difference between using a
raw lemon on your face and using a lemon-extract-based moisturizer. The
latter will deliver better, safer results, while the former might harm
you and won't deliver long-term benefits.
Using sugar or coffee grounds is also a popular DIY exfoliating method
that should be avoided. These substances, specifically coffee, can
introduce harmful bacteria to your skin. In addition, the irregular size
of the little grains will cause micro-tears on the surface of your
skin. This is also the reason we would recommend mild chemical
exfoliants over physical exfoliants. These include salicylic acid,
glycolic acid, and lactic acid. While there are many more acids, these 3
are most researched.
Still, if you're an avid DIY-er, you can use avocado, oats, and honey on
your face. We would still argue that store-bought,
chemically-formulated, well-researched products are always safer and
more efficient, but we can safely say that there is little to no harm in
applying raw avocado, oats, or honey to the skin. These aim to be
nourishing and calming.
Products and Ingredients
If you don't have a skincare routine,
establishing one can help the health of your skin. It doesn't have to be
complex or expensive. Simply cleansing your face with a dedicated, mild
soap, followed by a fragrance-free moisturizer and an SPF for the AM,
is enough. This will keep your skin nourished and moisturized, and most
importantly- protected from the sun. Companies like Aveeno, Cera-Ve,
Cetaphil, and the likes, make good, reasonably-priced products.
Additional treatment steps can be added to a routine for anti-aging
benefits. Antioxidants (vitamin C being the most prominent one),
peptides, and exfoliating acids are naturally-occurring chemicals that
protect the skin and have been scientifically proven to increase
collagen production and treat fine lines and pigmentation. An
antioxidant serum can be used daily in the AM, peptides can be used even
twice daily, but chemical exfoliates should be used up to 3 times a
week, in the PM, followed by an SPF the next morning as they will make
your skin more sensitive to the sun. You can also perform a physical
exfoliation with dedicated soaps, but this is much harsher on the skin
of the neck.
Besides SPF, which is considered the ultimate gold-standard anti-aging
ingredient, there is also retinol. This is a form of vitamin A that has
been proven in endless research to increase collagen production in the
deep layers of the skin. It can be, however, very irritating to the neck
area as it is more sensitive than the face. Simply using an SPF
diligently can be enough; the use of additional active ingredients isn't
a must.
In-office Procedures on varying levels of invasiveness
In-office procedures will be performed only
by a doctor, and their purpose is more to treat rather than prevent
wrinkles and sagging skin. These will be more expensive than anything
discussed in the article so far, with a price range of 300$ to 2000$ per
treatment session.
Ultrasound therapy
This treatment, like many others in this section, delivers heat to the
deeper levels of the skin. This heat damages the cells but not the outer
layer of the skin, so there is no scarring. The result is an increase
in collagen production to make up for the loss of cells, which will
gradually culminate in fuller tissues of the skin. You can see results
in 3 months. There is no downtime- you can leave the clinic as if
nothing happened!
Radiofrequency
This treatment can also be done on any other part of the body to target,
apart from wrinkles, cellulite, and stretch marks. Results will be seen
within 6 months. There is little to no downtime for this kind of
therapy.
Laser resurfacing
These are quite more invasive, so the downtime is 7 days. The results,
however, will be seen within 2 weeks.