Youthful Skin: Getting Rid of Wrinkles and Blemishes

Signs of aging are inevitable, but there are many things a person can do to soften or even remove wrinkles, fine lines, blemishes and age spots. Advances in keeping skin youthful have come about because scientists have learned why skin ages. This in turn has given aestheticians and dermatologists the means to combat it.

Why Do Wrinkles Form?

Wrinkles form because of the nature of the skin over the face. Facial skin is knitted with the muscle that allows the face to have expressions. When the skin is young, it can snap back easily from smiling, laughing, frowning or raising the eyebrows. As people age, the layers of skin start to lose some of their ability to snap back after they make facial expressions. Inevitably, the lines remain in the face. The problem is worsened if the person stays out in the sun a great deal, for the sun’s ultraviolet rays also age and discolor the skin.

Getting Rid of Wrinkles and Blemishes

The ways to get rid of wrinkles and blemishes are noninvasive, minimally invasive or surgical. Noninvasive methods include creams and lotions based on substances such as retinoids and fruit acids. These substances exfoliate the top layer of skin, which is made up of dry, dead skin cells and encourage the body to make fresh skin cells.

Other noninvasive, topical treatments are salicylic acid and ascorbic acid, or vitamin C. Salicylic acid also exfoliates the top layers of the skin, but is anti-inflammatory. Ascorbates are antioxidants that counteract the effects of skin-damaging free radicals and help the skin build collagen, a protein beneath the skin that keeps it supple.

Minimally invasive treatments include dermal fillers such as Juvederm Fillers. These fillers are injected into the skin to plump it out and smooth away wrinkles. Fillers such as Juvederm are made of hyaluronic acid, a natural substance that hydrates the skin. Other fillers include collagen and the patient’s own fat. Botox is not a filler even though it is injected. It paralyzes the muscle beneath the wrinkle, which causes the wrinkle to soften. Both fillers and Botox wear off after time, but the patient can return to their aesthetician or dermatologist for touch-up treatments.

Other minimally invasive procedures to remove wrinkles and blemishes are chemical peels, where the face is painted with an exfoliating fruit acid or other solution. These peels can be light, medium, or deep. Other patients opt for dermabrasion, where the top layers of the skin are removed with a burr or a spray of crystals. Other treatments include microblading and microneedling, where tiny puncture wounds are put on the skin to encourage it to produce collagen. Invasive procedures include face lifts, brow lifts and neck lifts. In these surgeries, excess skin is removed and the underlying tissue tightened to restore a fresh and youthful look.

These procedures come in many price ranges, and most of them are outpatient procedures. The patient can go back to their regular schedule after the procedure is over. Which method to use is up to the patient and their dermatologist.