We all get them, but what actually are wrinkles? How do they form and how can we prevent them?

What are Wrinkles?

Development of facial wrinkles is a kind of fibrosis of the skin. Wrinkles develop from incorrect repairs of injured elastic fibers and collagen fibres.

Injured fibres are caused from repeated extensions and compressions of the skin from factors such as sun damage, smoking, dehydration, some medications, and environmental and genetic factors.

During the repairing process, some of the broken elastic fibres and collagen fibres are not regenerated and restored but replaced by altered fibres. When an elastic fibres is broken, it may be replaced by a long collagen fibre.

Accumulation of long collagen fibres make parts of the skin looser and stiffer, and as a consequence, a large fold of skin appears. When a long collagen fibre is broken in a compressed state, it may be replaced by a short collagen fibre.

The shorter collagen fibres will restrict the extension of longer fibres, and make the long fibres in a folded state permanently. A small fold then forms, giving the appearance of a wrinkle.

How can you prevent and reduce wrinkles?

In order to prevent and reduce wrinkles, certain aspects of your lifestyle may need to change. If you’re a heavy smoker you may want to consider cutting it down or completely out.

The nicotine in cigarettes causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin.

This impairs blood flow to your skin preventing vital repairs take place. It’s important to eat foods rich in antioxidants.

By minimising cell damage, they fight aging from the inside, out, plus they're high in fiber, low in saturated fat, and a good source of vitamins.

Sun protection is without question the best way to prevent ageing for young skin.

You must use sunscreen every single day of the year, not just when it's sunny to limit damage from harmful UV rays which break down the collagen and elastin fibers in the skin more quickly.

What are the best beauty technologies to treat wrinkles?

When it comes to beauty technologies and devices, there are a plethora available to help prevent and reduce existing wrinkles.

Light Therapy, particularly Red Light, is great for collagen and bringing back all the nutrients that you need in your face.

Microcurrent is a low-level current that mimics the body’s natural current and can provide both instant and cumulative anti-ageing results.

Nanocurrent is lower frequency than Microcurrent and promotes the production of collagen and elastin for younger-looking skin.

Radio Frequency uses a targeted treatment which heats the cells to increase and accelerate your body's natural production of collagen.

Microneedling parts the skin cells painlessly, this cell movement triggers your body's natural collagen production, instantly stimulating cell renewal.