What causes wrinkles, and what can be done about them?

4th December, 2018

Anyone over 30 will tell you that wrinkles are an unfortunate and unavoidable part of ageing and whilst some happily embrace them, many people choose to seek out ways of preventing them and reduce their appearance. This leads to the question of what exactly causes wrinkles?

What causes wrinkles?

There are many factors that culminate to cause our skin to wrinkle but ultimately the first is age. Our skin is composed of layers of epidermis and dermis which work together to produce collagen. Collagen combined with elastic fibres in the skin keep it looking tight and firm but as you age the levels of collagen begin to drop which in turn causes the skin to sag and wrinkle

There are however other factors that have an impact on our skin such as genetics - put simply, if your parents suffered from premature ageing signs then you are also likely to. Skin tone can also have an effect as the more melanin you have in your skin, the less likely you are to develop wrinkles at an early age.

Whilst genetics and the passage of time are factors out of our control, there are external factors that you can seek to avoid. The first is exposure to the sun; whilst the sun is great for improving your mental state too much of it can damage your skin in more than one way. In terms of wrinkles, UV light attacks collagen levels making it difficult for your skin to avoid wrinkling. Another notable cause of wrinkles is smoking; not only is smoking bad for your health but the lack of oxygen to your skin can quickly cause premature ageing.

What can you do to avoid wrinkles?

Focusing on your health is the best way to prevent ageing for as long as possible. Maintaining a healthy diet, drinking enough water, being mindful of how long you are out in the sun for and quitting bad habits such as smoking will all keep you looking young!