Wrinkles: What are They, and What Causes Them?

When people consider aging skin, they’re most likely to associate this with fine lines and wrinkles. Wrinkles can not only give away your age. These can prematurely age younger skin. Although it’s a natural process, many people do what they can to prevent the development and showing of wrinkles as part of their beauty routine to ensure more youthful-looking skin.

So what are wrinkles, and what causes them?

What are Wrinkles?

Wrinkles, or fine lines, are the creases that form on the skin. These can vary in severity. These can be from mild to extremely obvious lines on the face, neck, and other areas of the body. Wrinkles can be coupled with sagging skin and can form anywhere on the face, but most predominantly around the eyes, forehead, and mouth.

As wrinkles are most commonly associated with aging, this can mean most people will associate having wrinkles with looking older.

What Causes Wrinkles?

There are many different causes of wrinkles, some natural and some which can be affected by your lifestyle and habits. The most common causes of wrinkles include:

• Natural aging. The elasticity and collagen within skin can begin to weaken over time as part of the aging process. When this happens, the middle layer of the skin can become looser, and this, in turn, can result in visual kinks in the skin. Furthermore, older skin has more trouble retaining moisture, which can also affect its appearance.
• Repetitive muscle contractions. Think about how often and in what way you move the muscles of your face every day.Wrinkles can easily develop due to the repetitive contraction of muscles over time, whether through smiling, laughing, or frowning.It’s common for wrinkles to appear around the mouth and the eyes due to laughing or smiling because your face wrinkles around the eyes when you smile. Naturally, this is something you can’t control over the course of your lifetime, which is why some people opt for toning devices like NuFACE Fix to target wrinkles around the eyes, forehead, and mouth.
• Sun damage. It’s common knowledge that UV rays are harmful, but it isn’t just about protecting from sunburn. Excessive exposure to the sun’s rays can result in photoaging, which is when collagen in the skin is compromised. UV rays have the potential to break down or damage the collagen in the skin, and even though the skin works to rebuild, this process over time can result in risks and wrinkles.

Quick Tips for Wrinkle Prevention

Although wrinkles are a natural process, there are a few things you can do:

• Protect yourself from the sun. Make sure to always wear sunscreen and limit your time exposed to UV rays.
• Wear a hat and sunglasses. These will both offer extra protection from the sun’s rays, but sunglasses will also help to prevent squinting and creasing around the eyes and forehead.
• Be aware of your face muscles. Constantly frowning, rubbing the muscles around your eyes, squinting, or other repetitive movements will encourage lines to develop, so try to avoid frowning and squinting as much as you can.