The 40s are a time of contentment and peace for most people. By this time, you are settled in your personal and professional life. You have important milestones like children’s education and weddings, and your own retirement to look forward to. But instead of rejoicing over your financial and personal status, you agonise over the wrinkles on your skin. When did time steal a march over you?
This article discusses the aging process, why it affects you in your 40s the most, and which anti-wrinkle treatment is most suitable.
Why does the skin wrinkle as you age?
The skin has collagen and elastin fibres that maintain its tautness and elasticity. These are produced and renewed as a matter of routine when you are young, and it continues till the 20s. By the time the late 20s come around, however, the skin loses its ability to repair and rejuvenate its stores of collagen and elastin. This is the start of the aging process.
It brings with it other changes too. The skin’s cells become sluggish in holding on to moisture and essential stores of oil. Thus, the tissues become dry and dull, and the skin begins to look dull and dry too. The dry skin soon develops fine lines which deepen into ridges that are known as ‘wrinkles’. Often the onset of fine lines is seen in the 30s and wrinkles begin to develop in the 40s. The 30s also see a dramatic difference in skin cellular chemistry owing to sunlight exposure, with the skin becoming more prone to pigmentation, tanning and rashes.
Skin may also wrinkle as the result of weight loss, with folds appearing where smooth, unlined skin used to be.
What you can do to keep aging at bay
Aging is a natural process and cannot be stopped. As morbid as it sounds, aging happens to each person as inevitably as death. Though we would like phenomena like Benjamin Button (who ages backwards from birth) or Dorian Grey (whose alter ego ages while he remains ever youthful) to happen to us, the fact is that we cannot stop aging any more than we can trap water in the palms of our hands.
But that is not to say that you must allow aging to advance upon you and do whatever it pleases before you are ready for it. You can stave off the signs of aging by taking a few measures yourself:
- Drink a lot of water: Skin aging is accelerated by a lack of moisture in the skin. Keep your skin hydrated to plump up the skin tissues and get youthful, radiant skin. Drink at least one litre of water every day, or supplement your intake with green tea/ginger tea/chamomile tea/lemon water.
- Exercise: Regular workouts release toxins from the skin via sweat. The skin’s cells also remain in fine fettle as the skin receives higher reserves of oxygenated blood. The skin becomes suppler with increased production of collagen, too.
- Reduce blue light exposure: Blue light emanating from digital devices seems harmless enough, but it can change the cellular composition of the skin. Attach an anti-glare screen to your computer, or lower the brightness of the screen as much as you can.
- Sleep for eight hours: The more good quality sleep you get, the better your skin will look and feel. Sleep aids the skin’s restorative functions. While you sleep, the skin heals itself, rejuvenates tissues and processes nutrition. Aim to get at least seven hours’ sleep every night.
- Stress less: This is easier said than done, but when you dial down your stress, you see a marked difference in your skin, hair and overall health. Stress affects the skin by causing frown lines or crow’s feet, and depletes the skin’s hydration levels. Meditate every day to keep stress at bay, finish stressful work first, listen to calming music and eliminate anxiety triggers as much as you can.
- Use the right skin care products: You may tempted to try a series of creams and serums as advertised in the mass media, to stave off the fine lines on your face. Instead, ask your dermatologist to recommend suitable skin care products like moisturiser, lotion and rejuvenating serum, based on your skin type and age.
What your doctor can do about your wrinkles
When all else fails, your doctor can recommend a good wrinkles treatment in Dubai. The world over, people undergo face lifts to even out the fine lines and wrinkles. Others get filler injections, especially in the cheeks and in the lines along the mouth. However, one of the best anti-wrinkle treatments uses Botox injections to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
Botox is a chemical that ‘freezes’ the nerves or muscles that it is injected into, for a certain period of time. Cosmetic surgeons use it where wrinkles have appeared on the face – the idea is that if the muscle under that wrinkle freezes and cannot move, the overlying wrinkle is automatically smoothened out. This reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles dramatically.
Botox injections are commonly used to reduce wrinkles when aging takes over. It must be administered in minute doses by an experienced doctor. Too much Botox can freeze the face unnaturally and the person is unable to show even basic expressions. The injection takes a few days to work, but the results may last up to six months or a little longer.