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Treating Frown Lines and Facial Wrinkles

Frown lines around your mouth or forehead can make you look tired and older than your age. However, there are methods for preventing and eliminating these wrinkles.

Skin maintains its elasticity with the natural substances of collagen and elastin. However, your body produces less of these chemicals with age and your skin has a harder time staying taut and bouncing back when stretched. Think of a worn-out rubber band that is too stretched to return to its original size. The aging process is made worse by factors like sun exposure and smoking. With years of repetitive movements like frowning, laughing, and squinting, frown lines form.

To prevent frown lines, protect your skin from the sun. Wear large sunglasses, a hat, and sunscreen. Make sure to reapply sunblock often. Wrinkle creams are good for both treatment and prevention since they nourish your cells and help replenish your depleting collagen. Look for lotions and creams that contain retinol or vitamin A, vitamin C and alpha lipoic acid to moisturize. Alpha and beta hydroxy acids can also help to remove or exfoliate dead skin cells and reveal more youthful skin underneath. For an effective and relaxing solution, facial massages may actually help prevent frown lines. A massage stimulates blood flow to the area, and exfoliation reduces the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. If you’re concerned about wrinkles on your entire body, use oils like coconut or almond oil to keep skin soft and well-hydrated.

Diet can also be a factor that affects the health of your skin. Foods that contain antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids are known to affect the firmness of your skin. Instead of processed foods, go with fruits and vegetables and drink ample water.

Once you have the wrinkles, though, it is difficult to reverse the curse. One of the most popular treatment options for frown lines is the use of Botox. Botox injection can almost immediately reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and it lasts for months. Similar treatments include fillers like hyaluronic acid, collagen and calcium hydroxylapatite. Surgical brow or forehead lifts are more expensive, but they last for years. Less extreme treatment options include non-surgical procedures like chemical peels, dermabrasion, and laser skin resurfacing.

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Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid and Elastin

When fine lines develop around the forehead, crow’s feet around the eyes and wrinkles around the mouth, it is a sign of aging that is more obvious than a change in hair colour and density or a change in body posture.

Skin, consisting of bonded layers, begins to sag and become lumpy as a person ages. What is basically happening is that the skin loses its elasticity. This is usually a result of a depletion of three proteins common in skin: collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid.

Collagen is a fibrous protein found in skin, bone, cartilage, muscles, and tendons. It works to connect body tissue. It makes up 25 percent of the protein in the human body, and it is even found in teeth. Like a glue, it holds the tissues of the body together, including the layers of the skin.

Elastin is a protein that pulls back the skin when it is stretched. In addition to keeping the skin elastic and flexible, it keeps the skin smooth. This is why your mouth returns back to its normal shape after using the muscles of your face when talking.

The third essential protein for a youthful, healthy skin is hyaluronic acid. The more of this protein that is lost, the more aged a person begins to look. Fortunately, apart from cosmetics, it is also possible to take nutritional supplements to restore levels of hyaluronic acid. Moisture is lost because of lower amounts of hyaluronic acid. Diets rich in kelp, seaweed, and fish help maintain hyaluronic acid. People with Mediterranean or Asian diets appear to age slower with “plumper skin” than those people who live in cultures where refined foods filled with additives have become the norm. In cultures with poor diets, an enzyme called hyaluronidase begins to work against hyaluronic acid. Part of the process of restoring hyaluronic acid is to reduce the hyaluronidase enzyme.

Depletion of these three skin proteins is exacerbated by indulging in poor health habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, not drinking enough water, not eating nutritious food, not exercising, and getting an excessive sunburn. While taking care of your health by reversing all these conditions will go a long way to restoring your youthful appearance, you can also get relatively quick results by using lotions that provide the skin with what it needs to maintain its elasticity. Most anti-aging skin care programs work on restoring collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid.

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