Treating Wrinkles
and Other Skin Problems

Many serious skin problems, including wrinkles and scars, have some elements in common. For one, they are sometimes permanent. Some wrinkles, scars, stretch marks, and other such damage to the skin are just going to be there permanently, and will require cosmetic surgery to cure.

If your wrinkles are bothering you, you have many options to help eliminate or at least reduce their appearance. Wrinkle treatments include:

TOPICAL REMEDIES

Topical retinoids are remedies derived from Vitamin A. They are often used to reduce smaller wrinkles such as around the eyes, uneven pigmentation or coloring on the face, and even roughness of the skin.

These retinoids can be labeled as Retin A or just retinol. They can also make your skin a bit more sensitive to elements such as sunlight and wind, so you often need to protect yourself with caps and scarves and such. You can also burn more easily as well. Some patients experience dryness or itching.

There are other non-prescription wrinkle creams that you can purchase over the counter at any pharmacy or retailer. Some are more effective than others, and much of this will depend upon your skin as well as the product and ingredients themselves.

Alpha Hydroxyl

Alpha hydroxyl is like a very fine acid that removes the top surface of the skin. This sounds much harsher than it actually is! Alpha hydroxyl is actually a very mild exfoliate but you do need to be careful about overusing it as you would with any other exfoliate product.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are those good chemicals that destroy free radicals, which are bad chemicals that attack healthy cells in the body. Many skin care products today contain antioxidants, usually derived from green tea or aloe. If you use antioxidants on a regular basis you may notice that your skin is healthier looking overall and this can decrease wrinkles and prevent new ones from occurring.

Coenzyme Q10, Copper Peptides, Kinetin

These elements are typically meant to replenish the skin's moisture and plump up its collagen.

The degree to which these topical treatments work is usually very limited. Most contain such a small concentration of any of these ingredients that they cannot do much good, at least not enough to be visible to the naked eye.

OTHER TREATMENT OPTIONS

There are more involved treatment options for wrinkles that mean visits to a doctor or dermatologist. These include:

Dermabrasion

Dermabrasion is a type of sanding of the surface layer of your skin. This sanding procedure removes the top layer of skin so that the layer underneath is exposed; this layer underneath is usually less wrinkled and healthier. This also means that healthy skin grows in its place.

There are many things to think about when it comes to dermabrasion. The first is that this is a very complex procedure that is typically difficult to recover from. The patient usually has quite a bit of redness, swelling, and pain after the procedure. They report being very aware of the procedure as their face continues to feel as if it's been sanded roughly.

The recovery time for this procedure is very long; most patients report still having redness and irritation for months afterward.

Dermabrasion is a procedure that is typically given only to those who have very serious skin problems, such as deep wrinkles or acne scars. It has fallen out of favor with many dermatologists and potential clients in the past few years because of the extent of the procedure and recovery time.

Microdermabrasion

Much like dermabrasion, microdermabrasion works by removing a surface of skin. A vacuum suction is held over your face while aluminum oxide crystals sandblast your skin. This enables only a very fine layer of skin to be removed. The procedure is much more direct and less harsh than regular dermabrasion.

Patients still report redness and swelling in the area that is treated, but recovery time is much quicker.

Laser, Light, Radio

Much like the dermabrasion techniques, there are lasers available that destroy the outer layers of your skin and at the same time, heat the underlying skin which stimulates collagen renewal. New skin then forms that's smoother and firmer.

Some patients report that there is a long recovery time for laser treatments, up to three months or so. Some doctors prefer to use pulsed light or radio frequency, both of which do essentially the same job as lasers but not as intensely.

Light and radio do not harm the epidermis in the same was as laser treatments may, but also do not stimulate as much new cell growth as well. These treatments usually need to be repeated more frequently than laser or dermabrasion.

Chemical Peel

A chemical peel is exactly what it sounds like. A doctor applies a very mild form of acid to the face which actually burns off these outer layers of skin.

Chemical peels can be done in different depths. Some are deeper and are used for those with very severe scars or wrinkles that penetrate to the epidermis.

Some are referred to as superficial peels, and these only take off the uppermost layers of skin.

In both types of procedures, new skin grows back that is smoother and more radiant than before.

However, the recovery time for chemical peels can also be several months depending upon its depth. If you opt for superficial peels, you may need to repeat this procedure many times over.

Soft Tissue Fillers

Imagine being able to plump up your wrinkles from the inside out. Soft tissue fillers are designed to do just that. They typically contain fat and collagen and are injected into the wrinkle site. The skin has more volume and so looks less wrinkled and more radiant.

Soft tissue fillers usually involve a short recovery time and only typically have redness and slight bruising as side effects, but typically need to be repeated every few months.

Face Lift

A face lift is not as simple as cutting parts of your skin and reconnecting it to a higher portion of your face, as some might think. The muscles and nerves under the skin need to be moved and adjusted as well.

These muscles under the skin are typically tightened as the face is lifted and reconnected. It is a very delicate procedure that involves weeks of recovery time. Wrinkles are reduced with face lifts because the skin itself is tightened as well, smoothing out the surface of it.

A face lift can last for five to ten years or even longer, depending on the patient and the doctor.

These days there are procedures that can be considered partial face lifts, where only certain areas of the face or neck are addressed. This might work well for those with loose jowls around the chin line or who have more wrinkles in the forehead than anywhere else.

CONSIDERATIONS

No one can make the decision for you as to whether or not you should go through with any of these procedures that we've outlined, but there are some things that you may want to consider very carefully before you agree to any of them. After all, these are all actual cosmetic procedures and therefore are rather serious and also carry some risk as well.

Cost

Cosmetic procedures such as these are not covered by insurance. They can be very costly, and most need to be repeated eventually in order for the result to be long lasting. There is nothing that can hold off the effects of time and age, so of course you will need to have regular procedures in order to maintain the effect.

Whether or not you choose to finance such options or are able to save up for them is your decision alone, but do remember that no procedure is a permanent cure.

Risk

Every single procedure mentioned involves some risk, including:

• infection
• excessive redness or swelling of the treatment area
• scarring
• headaches
• vomiting
• nausea
• allergic reaction
• flu-like symptoms
• rash
• muscle weakness
• bruising and tenderness of the treatment area

You may need to take antibiotics or other medications for some time after the treatment and of course this too adds to the cost.

Expectations

It's so easy to be taken in by slick marketing brochures that a dermatologist may offer you and think that your skin is going to look as smooth and clear as those on the cover.

In reality a patient rarely gets the actual result that he or she was expecting, although usually the results are much better than when they first arrived at the doctor's office. However, you need to be honest with yourself about what you think your results will be as opposed to what your doctor may inform you.

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