Wrinkles
Wrinkles
24 Tips to Slow Aging
A lot of good can come with age—things like wisdom, grandchildren, and senior citizen discounts. But there are a few not-so-terrific things, like gray hair and wrinkles.
Gray hair, of course, can be touched up with a little dye. Simple enough. Wrinkles, however, are an altogether different story. No, you can't iron them out. And you can't (like Peter Pan or Dorian Gray) simply wish them away. But experts say there are a number of strategies to keep you from looking old before your time.
Don't be a California raisin. In other words, stay out of the sun. This is the first line of wrinkle defense suggested by every one of our experts. Too much sun eventually does the same thing to your skin that it does to dried fruit: It shrivels it up. This is especially true today, as depletion of the earth's ozone layer allows more of the sun's harmful rays to reach your vulnerable skin, says Norman A. Brooks, M.D., a dermatologist in private practice in Encino, California, and an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA School of Medicine. (For more on avoiding sun-induced wrinkles, see "Fun—And Wrinkles—In the Sun," on the opposite page.)
Avoid tanning booths. They produce the very same wrinkling rays as the sun, says Jeffrey H. Binstock, M.D., a dermatologist in private practice and an assistant clinical professor of dermatologic surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.
Scrunch not. It's okay to occasionally make a funny face, but constantly furrowing your brow, squinting, or puckering your lips will, in time, create wrinkles or make those you already have worse, says Marianne O'Donoghue, M.D., an associate professor of dermatology at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
Fun—And Wrinkles—In the Sun Doctors say that too much sun causes wrinkles. The problem, of course, is that unless you're a vampire or a roll of film, avoiding sunlight completely isn't something you want to do. So here's what experts suggest for balancing fun in the sun with wrinkle control. Leave the midday sun to mad dogs and Englishmen. About 95 percent of the sun's wrinkling rays hit the Earth between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. (11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., daylight saving time), according to Stephen Kurtin, M.D. Slather on the sunblock. Whenever you're out in the sun, the use of a sunscreen—the higher the sun protection factor (SPF) number, the better—is advised, says Dr. Kurtin. To be most effective in battling wrinkles, sunscreens should be applied to the skin at least 1/2 hour before going out and reapplied after swimming. Beware of reflective surfaces. It's always the same sun up there, but circumstances on Earth do change. Keep in mind that the wrinkling effects of the sun will be strongest off light-colored (and therefore reflective) surfaces, such as snow, sand, and concrete, says Jeffrey H. Binstock, M.D. Pay attention to your locale. Be aware that the sun's skin-shriveling rays are strongest at high altitudes (where the air is thinner) and southern latitudes (closer to the equator). Make sure you get enough vitamin D. If you're really serious about staying out of the sun, remember that sunlight normally provides us with essential vitamin D. You can, however, get all the vitamin D you need either from vitamin D-enriched milk or a multivitamin, says Marianne O'Donoghue, M.D. |
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Test your face. How do you know if you're scrunching your face? Look at yourself in a mirror as you're chatting on the telephone, suggests Dr. Binstock. Or try wearing a piece of cellophane tape over your forehead (just around the house, of course). Every time you furrow your brow, you'll feel the tape start to crinkle, says John F. Romano, M.D., a dermatologist and clinical instructor in medicine at New York Hospital—Cornell University Medical Center in New York City.
Avoid the bare-faced double whammy. A great recipe for wrinkling is to go out into the sun without sunglasses or a peaked hat. Not only do you then have to contend with the sun's damaging rays falling on your face, but your inclination will be to squint, which eventually can forge little wrinkles around your eyes, says Dr. O'Donoghue.
Keep pillows away from your face. "Watch out for sleep wrinkles," says Dr. Binstock. These are wrinkles that are caused by pressing your face into the pillow at night. If you're guilty of this habit, learn to sleep on your back instead, or experiment to find a position where your face is not pressing the pillow. You may see some of your smaller lines fade away.
Don't be a yo-yo dieter. Gaining a lot of weight can stretch your skin. Then losing weight (especially if you're older and your skin is less elastic) can result in wrinkles because the skin will not completely retract to its original size, says Stephen Kurtin, M.D., a dermatologist practicing in New York City and an assistant professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York. The smart thing to do is to never get overweight in the first place, or, if you do, lose that excess fat and keep it off before the age of 40, says Dr. Kurtin.
Exercise regularly. People who are generally in good shape seem to have healthier, more elastic skin than those who aren't. One Finnish study found that middle-aged athletes had skin that was denser, thicker, and stronger than that of a similar group of nonexercisers. The elastic quality that allows the skin to spring back to its original shape after being stretched was also significantly better in the athletes.
Eat right. Vitamins and minerals are important to maintaining youthful skin. Among the most important are the B-complex vitamins (found in beef, chicken, eggs, whole wheat and enriched flour, and milk, among other food) and vitamins A and C (found in fresh fruit and vegetables). Dr. O'Donoghue says the best foods for healthy skin are green leafy vegetables, carrots, and fresh fruit.
Don't smoke. Smoking, in addition to being bad for your general health, can result in premature wrinkling around your moth due to all those years of puckering lips around cigarettes. Smoking also tends to decrease blood supply to the small blood vessels under your skin, which could exacerbate wrinkling, says Gerald Imber, M.D., an attending plastic surgeon at New York Hospital—Cornell University Medical Center in New York City.
Stick with checkers (or some other sobering activity) on Saturday night. Party goers and others who hit the bottle too heavily may find that while alcohol drowns their sorrows, it also brings on wrinkles. Why? Because your face puffs up in the morning after you've had too much to drink. And that temporarily stretches the skin. This swelling and subsequent shrinking can create wrinkles much the same way that putting on a lot of weight and then going on a crash diet will, says Dr. Imber.
Use a moisturizer. No moisturizer on the market can reverse the aging process. If you have dry skin, however, the use of a moisturizing lotion can hide some of the smaller wrinkles that form on the surface, says Dr. Kurtin. He emphasizes that it is important to dampen the skin first before applying moisturizing cream.
The Alternate Route
Deal with Wrinkles the Oriental Way Can wrinkling be stopped or minimized? "We do it here all the time, " says Marshall Ho'o, a doctor of oriental medicine at the East-West Clinic in Reseda, California. The way wrinkles are dealt with in oriental medicine is "from the inside out," says Dr. Ho'o. That is to say his patients are taught a number of exercises designed "to develop tone and symmetry" in their faces and necks. They may also be given acupressure treatments. But what can you do at home without any special training from Dr. Ho'o? "Massage your face," he says. Using your fingertips, your thumbs, and the palms of your hands, rub every part of your face and neck. Any kind of massage, he explains, will help "to maximize stimulation and circulation. It can also round out the facial muscles, whose symmetry is often lost in fixed or rigid expressions." Dr. Ho'o also emphasizes the importance of living a happy and stress-free life. "Chinese people who have big families, who talk and laugh a lot, seem to have less wrinkles. And when wrinkles do appear, they are not unattractive." |
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Don't be fooled into buying "miracle" creams. Especially since the headline-grabbing advent of Retin-A, a strictly prescription topical drug that can actually reduce wrinkling, false advertising about certain over-the-counter lotions has popped up everywhere. "The claims being made by some cosmetic companies for anti-aging creams have been found by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] to be quite misleading," says Emil Corwin, an information officer with the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the FDA.
Go easy on the suds. "If anything, people in our society tend to overwash," says Dr. Kurtin. Overwashing can lead to dryness, which can create temporary wrinkling. Solution? Wash less and use only extra-mild soaps. And rinse extremely well. "People should spend more time rinsing and less time washing," says Dr. Kurtin, who explains that a soapy film left on the skin will exacerbate drying.
Use a humidifier. Keeping the air in your house moist is great for your skin and may prevent the smaller, temporary wrinkles that sometimes come with dry skin, says Dr. O'Donoghue.
See a makeup artist. "The judicious use of good makeup can do a very good job of hiding wrinkles," says Paul Lazar, M.D., a professor of clinical dermatology at Northwestern University Medical School. He suggests you consider seeking out a professional. "Just as good makeup artists can make someone look old for a movie, they can also make you look younger," he says.
Buff yourself with a little powder. Jack Myers, director of the National Cosmetology Association and a professional cosmetologist for the past 30 years, says that sometimes when people try to hide wrinkles with makeup, they wind up actually emphasizing wrinkles. That's because they rub cream- or oil-based makeup into their skin and it tends to cake up between the wrinkles. The key to hiding wrinkles, he says, is to use only powder-based (such as cornstarch) products. Here, as with moisturizers, don't expect miracles, says Myers.
Live with less stress. Dr. Lazar says the link between wrinkles and emotions is probably a superficial one. But happy people tend to carry smiles, he says, and a smile will divert other people's attention away from any wrinkles.
PANEL OF ADVISERS
Jeffrey H. Binstock, M.D., is a dermatologist in private practice in San Francisco and Mill Valley, California, and an assistant clinical professor of dermatologic surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.
Norman A. Brooks, M.D., is a dermatologist in private practice in Encino, California, and an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA School of Medicine.
Emil Corwin is an information officer at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration.
Marshall Ho'o is a doctor of oriental medicine at the East-West Clinic in Reseda, California, and an acupuncture and acupressure practitioner.
Gerald Imber, M.D., is an attending plastic surgeon at New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center in New York City.
Stephen Kurtin, M.D., is a practicing dermatologist in New York City and an assistant professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York.
Paul Lazar, M.D., is a professor of clinical dermatology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Illinois, He is a former board member of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Jack Myers, is director of the National Cosmetology Association and has been a professional cosmetologist for the past 30 years. He is also the owner and operator of the Owensboro School of Hair Design and Jack Myers Hair Styles in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Marianne O'Donoghue, M.D., is an associate professor of dermatology at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. She specializes in cosmetic dermatology.
John F. Romano, M.D., is a dermatologist and an attending physician at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York. He is also clinical instructor in medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center in New York City.
