Age is Just a Number! Don’t Wear It on Your Face.

Although we cannot stop the aging process, we can take steps to slow it down.

As we age, our skin will become thinner and drier resulting in visible lines and causing our face to lose some its youthful fullness.  Our genes play a significant role in how we age.  This is called” intrinsic aging.”

The second type of aging is called “extrinsic aging,”.  “Extrinsic aging,” is influenced by our lifestyle choices, which can play a huge role in causing our skin to age prematurely. The good news is, we can delay the effects of extrinsic aging on our skin by taking preventive measures.

Our findings underscore how the aging process has a considerable influence on our health. Regardless of the many factors that cause our skin to age, fortunately, there are many steps we can take to influence better skin health and slow down the signs of aging.  We have identified below many of the steps you can take or cosmetic procedures you can have done that will help give your face a more youthful appearance.

Aging Influences Our Health

First, let’s address how the aging process influences our health. According to new research, how old you feel has an unexpected effect on your health. This mental state is referred to as subjective age, and it represents your view of “how well you’re aging”. Over and over, we’re told, “we are only as old as we think we are.” But colloquialisms aside, this view of yourself is a real thing.

For instance, a study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, found that looking young helps you feel young. In addition, it is linked to a lower risk of depression and better mental health. It can also influence a person’s motivation to exercise, eat well, or engage in other healthy practices.

To illustrate this further, we found a study published in JAMA Dermatology, That further explores this sense of social, mental, and emotional well-being is strengthened by “looking younger”. What was observed during the study was that patients looking for “cosmetic treatments” were primarily motivated by the need to maintain their current appearance or “more like myself again.” So, if the studies are correct and you are that person who “does not want to wear their age on their face”, we have identified some preventative measures and treatments to help “slow down the aging process”.

Here are a few steps you can take now:

Preventative Measures

Sun Protection. The single most effective way to keep your face young is to protect it from the sun’s UV “ultraviolet” rays. The two types of UV rays that cause the most skin damage are UVA rays and UVB rays. The major cause of premature aging of the skin is the UVA rays, which penetrate the deeper layers of skin.  UVB rays on the other hand cause sunburn and are the leading cause of skin cancers.  You should always use a sunscreen labeled “broad spectrum” with a minimum SPF of 30 to protect against both UVA and UVB rays. It’s also a smart idea to wear a hat with a big brim as well as UV protective clothing.

Moisturizers. will soothe, and wrinkles will be less visible for a while. Water is used in face moisturizers to make them less greasy. It may contain substances like glycerin that help bind water to the skin. Exfoliant creams can help aging skin look younger by removing dead skin cells that don’t slough off as quickly as they did when we were younger.

Popular Facial Cosmetic Procedures

Injectables

Some of the most requested brand names of neuromodulators are BOTOX® Cosmetic (Allergan), Dysport® (Galderma), Xeomin® (Merz Aesthetics), and Jeuveau® (Evolus) these are used to reduce wrinkles. They work because they inhibit the release of acetylcholine, a chemical that causes wrinkles by causing muscle contractions. Depending on the amount injected and the depth of your lines and wrinkles, the results will last up to six months.

Dermal Fillers

Popular dermal fillers are Juvederm® (Allergan) and Restylane ® (Galderma). They work by plumping up wrinkles from the inside out. These hyaluronic acid gel fillers will reduce fine lines around the mouth and chin and will increase volume loss under the eyes. The results will typically last six months.

The American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery (ASLMS) points out that using these injectables combined with an “energy-based device treatment “will provide a more satisfying and immediate result. However, “for those who do not like needles”, you can opt for only a “non-invasive laser or energy-based treatment”. These are a couple of the most requested cosmetic device treatments that fall into this category.

Laser treatments

Lasers are light that impacts the epidermis or top layer of the skin. That’s why it’s often referred to as “laser resurfacing”. Lasers revitalize the skin from the outside. Uneven skin tone and texture, fine lines, acne scarring, and other skin problems can all be helped with lasers. The most popular are those with short downtime, ranging from a few hours to 4-5 days of pink and dryness. The more powerful lasers are ablative, leaving redness and scabs on the skin for about a week, followed by 3-4 weeks of pink skin.

Ultrasound treatments

As we age our skin’s collagen is lost at a rate of 1% every year after the age of twenty-five, rising to 2% in your forties. So, by the time you reach sixty, you will have lost half of your collagen.

One of the newest energy devices, Sofwave^TM, uses “ultrasound technology, to stimulate collagen and elastin under the skin”. Energy-based devices could be the way to go if you want to re-energize your skin from the inside out and see an improved result in “laxity and wrinkles on the face”. What’s different about Sofwave^TM treatments is that it treats all skin types, which is not the case with laser light treatments. In addition, patients love that this procedure can fit into their active lifestyles and achieve great outcomes in a single 30—45minute treatment. Although results are Immediate, you will continue to see improvement over the next three months as neocollagenesis begins, increasing and regenerating the collagen layers under your skin.

To put it simply, accepting our age and appearance is, without a doubt, a personal choice; however, for those of you who want to look and feel more like yourself again. You can take steps to slow down the aging process by taking care of your skin, by using sun protection, and taking advantage of some of the cosmetic treatments listed in this article.