Recent Articles of Interest

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 characterizes aging.

Even though the skin wrinkles as a sign of aging, we can't blame time for every new wrinkle that appears on our skin. Some wrinkles are produced by repeated natural movements. If that's hard to believe then just take a second to think about how often you laugh, frown or squint in a day. These reiterated movements create thin lines that appear around the corners of the eyes, mouth and forehead and can be easily linked to 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 rays may harm skin by elevating the production of proteolytic enzymes that degrade collagen, the connective tissues located beneath the dermis.

There are 3 types of wrinkles:

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

Glyphic wrinkles are lines that we all naturally have, but which have become exacerbated 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 marked with muscle contraction or with facial expressions.

Furrows are deep wrinkles that start to form on the faces of aging people. These wrinkles are mainly 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 UV exposure accentuates their development. It is hard to get rid of these kinds of wrinkles when they emerge between muscle groups. Furrows that surface around mouth and eyes keep visibly evident even when you aren't smiling or squinting. They may not be eliminated, but may be minimized in size.

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