Express Yourself! How to Beat Expression Wrinkles Once and For All
A crinkled nose may look cute on bunny rabbits, but it can make humans appear old and worn. So can crow’s feet, laugh lines, forehead wrinkles and those annoying “11” lines between your eyes.
While we can’t always help the way our skin changes with age, most expression lines are simple to prevent and reverse. With the help of the right products and a good aesthetician, you can be proud to smile, laugh and talk without abandon.
An Ounce of Prevention
It may sound cliché, but it’s true that preventing skin issues are almost always easier than curing them. Sunscreen is the number-one way to save your smooth skin — and it has the added advantage of fending off skin cancer later in life. (Your skin truly does thank you in the future for the way you treat it today).
Look for a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen that blocks both UVB and UVA rays, and apply it to your face and body every time you go outdoors in the daytime. Even cloudy skies can cause sun damage. For optimal protection, your sunscreen should have an SPF of at least 15.
Smile Without Fear
Even with regular sunscreen use, your face is still susceptible to wrinkling every time you move facial muscles. These wrinkles, called dynamic expression lines, appear around the eyes, mouth, forehead, brow, chin and even your neck.
The most effective way to erase dynamic expression lines is to relax or paralyze the muscles that create movement. For example, relaxing muscles around your eyes prevents them from creating crow’s feet each time you smile.
This is where muscle relaxers like Botox and Dysport come in. They literally prevent muscles from forming the expressions that cause unwanted lines.A good aesthetician can inject just the right amount to allow you to express yourself naturally while still losing the wrinkles.
Both Botox and Dysport contain a form of botulinum toxin, which causes temporary muscle paralysis. Only the target muscles are affected, and untreated areas function as usual.
These injectables only take a few minutes to administer, and there is no downtime or recovery period. Results start to appear after several days, and may last from three to six months. You’ll get longer lasting results with consistent use.
Although most people use Botox and Dysport to treat existing wrinkles, you can also use muscle relaxers for prevention. If you get injections months or years before any expression lines appear, these wrinkles are unlikely to ever develop. This means that lines will never become etched into your skin, appearing even without any expression.
Wipe Out Existing Lines
If you waited to long to treat dynamic expression lines, you may not have been able to avoid the aforementioned etching. Muscle relaxers won’t treat this, so you’ll need to turn to some complementary treatment.
Exfoliating treatments like Retin-A, available by prescription, can help attack these fine lines by removing the upper layers to reveal fresher skin.Retin-A also encourages collagen production, which makes skin supple.
However, topical treatments can only go so far. Lasers are far more effective for resurfacing the skin to exile fine lines for good. They also fight sun damage and hyperpigmentation for added youth-boosting benefit. Fractionated lasers, fractionated CO2 lasers, and ablative CO2 lasers are all effective, and come with varying amounts of downtime. The best option depends on the depth of your lines and how many sessions you’re willing to undergo (stronger lasers require more recovery, but fewer treatments).
Expression lines are no match for this three-pronged approach of prevention, injections and erasure. Working with your aesthetician, you can customize your treatments to eliminate wrinkles completely or leave some subtle, natural-looking lines for a graceful touch of age. Whatever the extent of your treatment, the above options will let you express yourself with confidence — just as you did in your youth.
About The Author
Mia Liefso is a professional medical skin therapist and the owner of Bradford Skin Clinic & Med Spa in Bradford, Ontario. She has certifications in IPL, VPL, LHE, laser and ultrasound technologies, as well as body contouring and medical facial peels. Her professional interests include difficult skin conditions—psoriasis, eczema, and acne—premature aging, skin care for the elderly, endocrinology, and helping people love the skin they’re in.Her diverse personal interests include history, animals, roller derby, travelling and gourmet cooking.
