wrinkles - How do wrinkles appear and what are their types

Radiantly fresh, velvety smooth, and free of wrinkles - youthful skin is considered the ideal of beauty par excellence. But from the early 30s at the latest, the skin increasingly loses its elasticity and resilience. This is when the first wrinkles appear, which deepens with age. This natural aging process cannot be avoided. However, there is much that can be done to delay it and reduce the visible signs of aging. 

 

How wrinkles occur

With increasing years, the skin also ages the elastic fibers, skin fat, and connective tissue in the middle layer of the skin shrink. As a result, the skin's elasticity dwindles. The facial expression, gravity, UV radiation, and other influencing factors then leave their traces in the form of skin wrinkles. Exposed areas of the body such as the face, neck, décolleté, and hands are particularly affected.

 

PLEAT TYPES

There are basically three types of facial wrinkles:

Orthostatic wrinkles, for example, the nasolabial fold between the nostril and the corner of the mouth, are caused by gravity

Mimic wrinkles like the frown line between the eyebrows or the thinking wrinkles on the forehead are caused by the movement of the facial muscles

Small superficial wrinkles around the mouth, cheeks, chin and forehead due to sun exposure and/or nicotine

Wrinkles inevitably appear with advancing age, every person is affected sooner or later. However, when and to what extent wrinkles form depends on a variety of influencing factors: On the one hand, the body's own processes play a role. On the one hand, the body's own processes play a role. However, according to current knowledge, environmental influences such as UV rays, nicotine, and alcohol are more decisive. These so-called extrinsic factors are said to be 90 percent responsible for the aging of the skin.

 

NATURAL SKIN AGING

As you get older, structures and processes in the body change. As a result, the cells lose more and more of their ability to renew themselves over the course of a lifetime. Studies have shown, for example, that fibroblasts, which are important for the collagen production of the skin, have a limited lifespan. As we age, less collagen is therefore available, causing the skin to lose connective tissue and thus elasticity. Wrinkles can then dig into the skin more easily.

 

The hormone level, which changes over the years, also influences skin aging, especially in women. With the beginning of the menopause, the female estrogen level drops rapidly. This is accompanied by a decrease in the collagen content of the skin, by up to 30 percent in the first five years of menopause alone. In addition, during menopause, the body reduces the production of hyaluronic acid - a central body's own moisture binder. The interaction of reduced collagen and hyaluronic acid production makes the skin slack and wrinkles appear more easily.

Men do not notice hormone-related changes until much later, especially due to increasingly dry skin.

Last but not least, the specific immune defense becomes weaker with increasing age because the aging bone marrow and other organs involved produce fewer defense cells. This can also make itself felt on the skin through increased wrinkle formation.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL SKIN AGING

In addition to the body's own natural processes, environmental factors such as UV rays, nicotine and alcohol promote aging of the skin. Also, stress, lack of sleep, and vitamin are nutrition favor folds. All these factors promote the so-called free radicals. These are aggressive oxygen compounds that can cause serious cell damage.

UV rays can also directly disturb cell processes that are important for collagen production. UVA rays in particular penetrate deep into the lower layers of the skin and hinder collagen production there. Thus, the connective tissue depot, which is crucial for skin elasticity, disappears much faster in people who are regularly exposed to the sun with insufficient protection.

 

HOW YOU CAN PREVENT WRINKLES

What helps against wrinkles? Individual lifestyle has been proven to have a great influence on when and to what extent wrinkles develop. You can therefore do a lot yourself to prevent wrinkles:

• Protect yourself from UV rays: Always use a sunscreen with a high sun protection factor or a day cream with UV protection.
• Do not smoke
• Drink little alcohol
• Sleep sufficiently, at least seven hours per night are recommended
• Drink plenty of water, so you also moisturize your skin
• Avoid stress, because even regular overstraining can cause the skin to age faster
• Eat well-balanced and vitamin-rich: The vitamins A, E, and C as well as Carotinoide and unsaturated fatty acids are considered as natural light protection because they promote the collagen production reduced by UV-RADIATION
• Thoroughly cleanse the skin regularly and care for it with a moisturizing cream.