SPA DIVA BLOG FEED
May 02, 2012
Reality Scope.
Apr 16, 2012
Diet, bones and excuses. You want to read this.
Mar 30, 2012
The Best Organic Skin Care Ingredients
Mar 22, 2012
My journey with sunless tanners.
Light Wrinkles
People’s desire to retain and regain youth is strong and universal. The eternal wish for a “fountain of youth” can be seen in the innumerable products and procedures advertised in books, magazines, and other media that promise “younger-looking skin.” Many claims for such youth-enhancing methods are unfortunately overblown or entirely nonexistent. Let the buyer beware! Still, effective techniques for softening and even removing wrinkles do exist.
Skin ages all over the body, but much more so where there has been sun exposure, usually the face, neck, and back and the hands. Changes brought on by sun damage (photoaging) include “dryness” (really roughness), sagginess, skin growths like keratoses (“liver spots”), and wrinkles. Wrinkles in turn can be divided into two categories; fine, surface lines and deep furrows. Wrinkle treatments are in general much more effective for fine lines. Deeper creases may require more aggressive techniques, such as plastic surgery.
What factors promote wrinkles?
Factors that promote wrinkling include:
- Smoking
- Skin type (people with light-colored skin and blue eyes are more susceptible to sun damage)
- Heredity (some families wrinkle more)
- Hairstyle (depending on how much skin is covered by hair and protected from the sun)
- Dress (again, by determining which skin is exposed)
- Occupational and recreational sun exposure over the course of many years
Some of these factors are beyond our control. The main preventative measures we can take are to minimize sun exposure and not smoke.
What treatments are available for wrinkles?
So, what can be done to treat wrinkles? There are several medical (topical medicines and creams) and cosmetic techniques available for improving (minimizing) the appearance of wrinkles and even removing them.
Medical treatments
- Vitamin A Acid (tretinoin, Retin-A, Renova). Among medical treatments, this is by far the most proven and effective way of bettering many of the signs of aging, such as mottled pigmentation, roughness, and wrinkling. Creams containing this medication must be used on an ongoing basis. At first, they produce redness and peeling. Although this can be unpleasant for a while, it is essential to achieving improvement once the peeling stops.
- Alpha-hydroxy acids. These are the so-called “fruit acids” and include glycolic and lactic acid. Preparations containing these fruit acids are quite safe and cause no more than mild and temporary irritation. The improvement they produce is, however, relatively subtle.
- Antioxidants. These include preparations that contain the vitamins A, C, and E, as well as beta-carotene. These creams may provide a certain amount of sun protection as well as mild improvement of wrinkles.
- Ordinary moisturizers. Regular creams, which don’t contain any of the above substances, may make wrinkles look temporarily less prominent. This is what advertisers have in mind by products that “reduce the appearance of fine lines.”
Anyone considering any of these solutions should contact an aesthetician experience in one or several of these techniques. Call Radiant Medspa at 206-402-3063 in Seattle or 425-640-5900 in Lynnwood for a complimentary consultation.
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