Acne Treatments Guide - Articles

Wrinkles are creases or folds in the skin. In aging skin, they occur because of the diminished elasticity and generalized loss of skin thickness that accompanies aging.

Even though wrinkles are a consequence of aging, we can't blame time for every new wrinkle that appears on our skin. Some lines are created by mechanical movements that we reproduce on a regular basis such as laughing, sleeping, or squinting. This repetition creates hairline depressions that appear around the corners of the eyes, mouth, and forehead. The new wrinkle formation can be linked to the skin's loss of elasticity.

Wrinkles are also caused by overexposure to UV rays, both UVA and UVB rays. UVA rays are responsible for tanning, wrinkling, and melanoma while UV light can damage skin by increasing the production of proteolytic enzymes that degrade collagen, the connective tissues located beneath the skin.

There are 3 types of wrinkles:

Crinkles are the very fine wrinkles that happen in aging skin and appear everywhere, not just in patches that have been exposed to solar rays. Elastic fibers in your skin begin to deteriorate around the age of 30, although you might not notice it until sometime later. This kind of wrinkling occurs even without sun exposure, but is probably heightened by it.

Glyphic wrinkles are wrinkles that we all naturally have, but which have become accentuated with aging. If you have taken to wearing turtlenecks or scarves to cover lines that have appeared on your neck, you know what a glyphic wrinkle is. These wrinkles tend to become more pronounced with muscle movement or with facial expressions.

Furrows are deep wrinkles that begin to form on the faces of aging people. These lines are mostly straight lines that appear on the forehead, corners of the mouth and eyes. They are so common that they've gained nicknames such as crow's feet or laugh lines. Repeated movement and sun exposure accentuates their development. It is difficult to get rid of these types of wrinkles when they emerge between muscle groups. Furrows that surface around mouth and eyes remain visibly noticeable even when you aren't smiling or squinting. They may not be eradicated, but can be reduced in appearance.

If we were to create a special type of wrinkle filler or view aging as an illness, then wrinkles could be viewed as small, improperly healed injuries. Undoubtedly wrinkles are characterized by flawed buildup of collagen and imperfect skin cell layering, which is also seen in healed injuries, although on a much larger scale. If so, could the agentsthat control the process of wound healing (by minimizing scar formation and improving skin remodeling) have a potential to prevent or even reduce wrinkles? Well, maybe. A good example of a wound-healing agent that seems to also have anti-wrinkle potential is the type of compounds called copper peptides, small proteins that reduce scar formation.