Is Wrinkles a four-letter word to you? Have you always skipped over that word thinking not me, not now?
Wrinkles are what we have grown accustomed to associating with getting older. They are no disgrace and surely not unsightly. However, they are one thing we all try to avoid.
The person in the image above has done a great job of protecting herself from early aging, yet, the sun has done some damage to her skin, causing early wrinkling. She just didn’t know what we do now about the sun and how it works. Start protecting your skin now.
Basics On Wrinkles
The natural creases, folds, or ridges in your skin are what we know as Wrinkles. A natural thing that happens as people get older.
Your first wrinkles tend to appear on your face in areas where your skin naturally folds anytime you have a facial expression.
This happens because this is where your skin is becoming thinner and less elastic over time.
Wrinkles also appear on the parts of your body that receive the most sun exposure. This is why your face and neck, back of the hands, your arms are usually where you will find your first wrinkles.
Such a natural part of growing older and wiser. These dreaded Wrinkles! And they affect everyone.
However, many people dislike the appearance of wrinkles, and, as a result, the anti-aging market in the United States is worth over 50 billion dollars a year. So, yes it will make more economical sense to be proactive than to be reactive.
A few dollars invested in protecting your skin from the sun is a good way to avoid trying to repair the damage.
Why You Need Some Sun
Yes, the sun can do incredible things for your body.
Like all good things, you can easily overdo it! Then you will have some damaging effects as well.
The sun helps stimulate your body’s production of Vitamin D. An important reason to have vitamin D? Your bones need Vitamin D to help absorb calcium to keep your bones strong, not brittle.
Vitamin D also helps regulate your sleep cycles, as well as promote healthy energy.
Again there is a fine line between enough and too much. How do your know when you have reached that line? You have to know your own body and how it reacts to the sun.
If you are old enough to be aware of Wrinkles and know you don’t want them? Do you want to protect yourself from them? Then you are probably aware of how long before you began to respond to the sun on your skin.
Your risk factor is individual, and there is no hard and fast rule. The link will give you some good guidelines for your personal factor. Remember to consider the times you may be taking allergy medications and when you have been ill. Those things matter.
With your knowledge of the good, bad, and ugly of the sun you can make better decisions about your personal skin exposure. You can help protect your family from too much sun.
But if we don’t protect our skin from the sun we risk getting wrinkles, age spots, and more importantly, skin cancer.
(This link gives some examples of those who have not been as careful as others for their skin protection when in the sun. To some, it was more important to be seen as sexy and daring than to protect their skin. Will this be you?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5290673/Is-proof-sun-lovers-age-faster.html )
Wrinkles Are Natural
Wrinkles are simply a natural part of the aging process. Living beings have a natural life cycle. Animals also grow to have wrinkles.
Trees have wrinkles. ( When the initial periderm breaks, a new layer of active periderm forms on the inside. Alternating layers of the old periderm and dead phloem for the thick, craggy, flakey, outer bark that is found on most mature trees. This is kind of bark we know as the rhytidome, Greek for wrinkle. NorthernWoodlands.org.)
It is important to remember that as you get older, your skin becomes thinner, drier, and less elastic.
As your skin moves into the more mature cycle, your skin is less able to protect itself from damage. Your body no longer produces the same materials to nourish your skin and keep it as when you were younger.
Why Do You Get Wrinkles?
The lack of nutrients to keep your skin plump and growing will lead to wrinkles, creases, and lines on the skin. Yes, your face is affected first.
There is a good visual of the wrinkling process here
We use our facial expressions, such as smiling, frowning, or squinting, often in our daily lives. This will lead to the development of fine lines and wrinkles at a young age. These lines deepen as the person gets older.
While you are young, your skin springs back. As you get older, your skin loses its flexibility. The lack of flexibility makes it more difficult for your skin to spring back, resulting in permanent grooves.
Why Do Darker Skin People Wrinkle Slower?
Wrinkles appear differently if you have darker skin tones. When you have darker skin tones, your skin is built a bit differently.
ResearchTrusted Source indicates that the dermis layer of your skin is thicker if you are of Black and Asian ancestry.
The darker color of your skin allows you to be protected from facial wrinkles longer. Not forever, and yes, the sun will in time damage your skin as well.
There are many factors that affect the development of wrinkles. Some you can help with to delay your own wrinkling, regardless of your natural skin tones:
- Your sun exposure is a very important part of your lifestyle that you can moniter and slow the early aging effects of.
- Then there is smoking. We all know the effects of smoking are seen in several areas of your health. Get a stopping plan going now.
- When you allow yourself to become dehydrated you will see more symotions of aging skin, among them wrinkles.
- Remember your medications. Some really do affect your skin in the sun. This makes it more difficult to contol the damage that the UV rays do to your skin.
- We are all subject to environmental and genetic factors. Living in Central Texas, we have so many hours of sunshine that we have to protect our skin from. Wearing a sun hat, your sunglasses and sunscreen are the basics of protecting your skin.
- Contuining use of tanning booths, and being involved in outdoor sports also increase the development of wrinkles.
These are changes that you can help with.
What Do Collagen And Elastin Do?
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, found in your bones, muscles, skin, and tendons.
Once the UV light breaks down the collagen and elastin fibers in your skin you will see more wrinkles.
What does elastin do?
Elastin and collagen are the main structural protein components of your skin.
Elastin is about a thousand times more flexible than collagen. It lends elasticity to the skin tissue. Damage or inflammation of the elastin in your skin can lead to breakdown or disease in your skin.
The collagen and elastin fibers form your connective tissue for your skin support. As this layer breaks down, the skin becomes weaker and less flexible. The skin starts to droop, and wrinkles appear.
Darker tones of skin contain more melanin and protect from many harmful effects of UV radiation.
If you work in the sunlight, you have a higher chance of early wrinkles. Wearing clothes that cover the skin, such as hats or long sleeves, is an important way you can delay the development of wrinkles.
Regular smoking accelerates the aging process of your skin because it reduces the blood supply to the skin.
Alcohol dehydrates the skin. Dry skin is more likely to develop wrinkles. These are all lifestyle choices. It is important to be aware of all the consequences of the things we think are important to us.
Best Treatment For Wrinkles?
When you think about the dangers of skin cancer, or the problems for your eyes from too much sun, Wrinkles may seem frivolous.
The best treatment for Wrinkles? Prevention! Sun Blocking Clothing, sunscreen, and a safe sun lifestyle. It isn’t a mystery. However, it may require a few changes.
Slowing sun-induced aging, to reduce wrinkling is important. Still, I think it is very important to understand the full scope of effects that the sun can have on your health and body.
The same offender that causes skin cancer is responsible for sun-induced aging. That offender is UV radiation.
When you expose your skin to UV radiation, the collagen and elastin fibers in your face break down. This reduces the flexibility of your skin.
When the flexibility of your skin decreases, your face will start to sag. It can no longer “snap back” when pulled or stretched.
The results are sagging skin and wrinkles.
Cancer is my number one concern when it comes to the health effects of too much sun.
It may be superficial when I say that I am reluctant to get premature wrinkles due to sun-induced aging?
If this means staying out of the sun and slathering my face with sunscreen five times a day, so be it. (That may be a slight exaggeration!)
Yes, I know that wrinkles are a natural sign of aging. That is totally natural. Wrinkles are a sign of a long life. Many wonderful experiences and memories.
Come on now, why should you prematurely weaken the connective tissues of the skin on your face? Why not postpone until you are older? Do you see the allure of having lines running down your face and neck before you enter into old age?
Why Do You Need A Sun Safe Lifestyle?
Preventing skin cancer is a real and present danger when you have a lifetime of exposure as I do. Add that to continuing to live in a sunny part of the world.
Yes, protecting yourself is important. When you didn’t know about the dangerous effects of the sun, you probably made a few choices you would like to undo now. That is true of all of us, I think.
Now that I know what happens, I can’t help but warn you about how important it is to make some changes.
I know that I seem paranoid. Of course, I am not saying that you should be nocturnal. And quit going out during the day.
What I am saying is that sun your exposure should be limited. You can make choices to wear sunblock every day. Also add sun blocking clothing, a hat, and big sunglasses. Choose better times to be out in the sun.
You can have fun in the sun yet keep yourself safe and protect your skin from UV radiation. Shielding yourself from the sun doesn’t have to be time-consuming, laborious, or nerdy.
Staying safe from the sun will just require awareness and a few wiser choices.
What do you think about the dangers of the sun?
Do you feel that the sun is one of the most dangerous carcinogens facing people today?
Sami’s Take On Wrinkles
The only way I know to share a lifetime of allowing the sun to do bad things to my skin is to warn you not to. Don’t allow the sun to cause sunburn.
Don’t think that you can expose yourself to the sun in a bikini too long. Yes, you may have the best body in the world, but what about your skin?
This warning is to remind you that your skin can’t protect you and help you live a healthy long life and not look like a dried-up lizard. You have to make better choices.
Limited sun exposure is the main way to prevent wrinkles. Working with softening your wrinkles will be expensive and your results questionable. Do you want to have skin that makes you look older than you are?
Yes, your outer layers of skin replace themselves in a pretty short cycle. 10 to 15 days, is normal. However, this does nothing to replace the other building blocks that are necessary for a youthful appearance.
So, realize the damage you’re doing with your tanning addiction. Make some better choices and protect your skin from the sun.
I will admit that I would love to think tanning was good for my skin. Now I know different. Now I know the permanent damage that happens. The cancer risks are being ignored.
Better, safer sun choices will work better for getting older and staying safe from the sun.
Please share your thoughts below.