Let’s Talk About the Different Types of Wrinkles

They say that with age comes wisdom. Unfortunately, it also comes with wrinkles.

Most men and women would say they do not like growing older. Or, at the very least, they do not like the signs of maturity that accompany it. It’s why treatments to prevent or eliminate wrinkles and other signs of aging are some of the most popular we perform at Toronto Plastic Surgeons.

And while everybody knows we get wrinkles as we age, less know the reasons why and what it is precisely about aging that causes wrinkles.

This blog is going to discuss all things wrinkles and treatments we offer to prevent them.

Let’s talk about wrinkles.

With Age, Comes Wrinkles

The truth about wrinkles is that our skin begins to produce less collagen as we begin to age. Collagen and elastin production is necessary for making your skin able to stretch and recover. It’s also what helps the skin keep a smooth and youthful appearance.

With less collagen and elastin being produced, the face loses its elasticity and muscle tone, causing drooping or sagging skin. Fat deposits under our skin also begin to dry and disappear, which causes wrinkles and fine lines.

And while you may think this doesn’t happen until you’re older, it begins while we’re still young. Specialists believe that the body begins to cease collagen production in our early 20s by about one percent every year. This isn’t to say you’ll notice the change right away, but by your 30’s, people often begin to see the starting signs of aging.

Other Common Causes of Wrinkles

Not everybody ages at the same rate. There are plenty of people out there who look younger than they are. If you’ve ever seen a person and thought, “They look great for their age!” it’s because their skin is structurally still young. This is because aging is not the only cause of wrinkles.

Frequent Facial Expressions

Are you furrowing your brow right now while you’re reading this? It’s a very common facial expression to have while concentrating or staring at screens. It also causes frown lines. Commonly repeated facial expressions like smiling, laughing, frowning, and squinting all cause wrinkles and fine lines.

Sun Damage

Ultraviolet radiation caused by exposure to the sun speeds the natural aging process and is one of the leading causes of wrinkling. UV rays break down and destroy collagen and elastin under your skin. Receiving sunburns also dries and damages the surface of our skin. Wearing proper SPF sunscreen and avoiding prolonged exposure, especially on high UV days, can help minimize this damage.

Smoking

Smoking overall is bad news for your health, but talking specifically about wrinkles, Nicotine causes your blood vessels to shrink, which reduces the flow of oxygen going to your skin cells. Meanwhile, other harmful chemics within cigarettes hurt elasticity in the skin. Harmful ingredients aside, smoke in general dries out the surface of the skin, whether it be from campfires or the end of your cigarette. As previously mentioned, facial expression repetition causes wrinkles. Chronic smokers often see lines around their mouths from pursing their lips to draw from a cigarette and their eyes from squinting through smoke irritation.

Alcohol

Dizziness, headaches, fatigue, dry mouth, dark urine: These are the signs of a bad hangover. It’s also the exact same signs as dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic. This means it forces your body to remove fluids. Our need to pee more frequently while drinking any of them indicates this and why hangovers are always worse when we don’t drink water. Too much or frequent alcohol usage dehydrates the skin, causing wrinkles and pores to become more apparent on the face. On the contrary, drinking plenty of water and other refreshing liquids like coconut water or electrolyte beverages can help to keep our skin soft and supple.

Types of Facial Wrinkles

Before we talk about specific types of facial wrinkles, you should first know there are two main types of wrinkles: Static and Dynamic.

Dynamic wrinkles are the ones caused by our facial expressions. Until you’re older, you won’t see them when your face is in its neutral position. As we age and our collagen production dies down, these dynamic wrinkles eventually become more permanent, ultimately becoming static wrinkles.

Static wrinkles are wrinkles that stay in the face even its neutral state. These wrinkles can begin even in our late 20’s and 30’s and only deepen over time.

Now that you know the main categories of wrinkles, here are some of the most common types of wrinkles.

Forehead Lines

Raising our eyebrows, which happens naturally as we emote and speak, moves the skin of the forehead up and causes these dynamic wrinkles.

Marionette Lines

These are static wrinkles running down from the corners of the mouth to the chin.

Crow’s Feet

These dynamic types of eye wrinkles are found in the outer corner of the eyes and are caused by squinting and smiling.

Bunny Lines

A bunny line is one of the dynamic types of wrinkle that appears on the sides of the nose. This can happen when we frequently scrunch our faces from laughing, smiling, sneezing, or coughing.

Vertical Lip Lines

These lip lines can be both static and dynamic types of wrinkles. They are caused by things like sun damage, talking, and smoking.

Nasolabial Folds

These types of wrinkles are vertical wrinkles that run from your nostrils to your lips. These are static wrinkles, meaning they can be present even when the face is neutral.

Frown Lines

These types of face wrinkles begin to form between the brows and are caused by furrowing the brow when we are concentred, squinting, and of course, frowning.

Treatments for Wrinkles

Now that you know about the types of wrinkles and their causes, let’s talk about what we can do about it!

Our clinic offers extensive types of facial treatments for wrinkles to help turn back the clock and reduce aging in the face.

Facelifts

Lifts can take a decade off of your face and are a very popular option for reducing signs of aging, as they target multiple problems at once. Currently, our clinic offers three different styles of facelifts that target different areas of the face.

Full Facelift

There are two types of full facelifts: Deep plane or SMAS. The deep plane is more involved and requires a longer recovery time. During a deep plane facelift, incisions are made to tighten the muscles under the skin. The surgical method employed in a deep plane facelift requires more precision since the facial nerve can be exposed. The skin, fat, and muscle can be lifted and redraped for a more youthful appearance.

SMAS facelifts are often regarded as one of the best types of facial treatments for wrinkles when it comes to facelift techniques. By targeting a sheet of tissue under the cheek skin known as the Superficial Muscular Aponeurotic System. By lifting the SMAS, we then correct signs of aging such as sagging jowls and deep smile lines.

Mid Facelift

Also known as a cheek lift procedure. Some people don’t have concerns with the upper areas of their face but find their problem areas around the midsection of their faces, such as wrinkling and sagging jowls. Your surgeon will target the mid-face area, smooth out uneven skin, and redistribute fat to add more volume to the cheeks, giving you a youthful, less tired appearance. This procedure is often done simultaneously with a full facelift to create better symmetry of the face

Mini Facelift

A mini facelift is a minimally invasive type of facelift that only targets the lower/mid-portion of the face. This is only done for those with minor concerns about things like their jowls and cheeks. This method is often favoured by younger patients in their 30s and 40s who do not show signs strong signs of aging elsewhere. We often combine this procedure with some form of fat grafting to provide fullness in the cheeks that can keep your youthful appearance going for many years.

Who Should Get a Facelift?

We don’t generally like to put a magic number on cosmetic surgeries as everybody ages at a different rate. However, in general, the ideal age for a facelift is around the ages 40-60, when the face begins to show visible aging but is still young enough to bounce back quickly during recovery. This helps to provide more natural-looking results.

If patients have extreme signs of aging and skin deterioration, they may notice more dramatic results from a facelift procedure. This means they may more readily show signs they’ve had a procedure done, which can be unwanted.

Meanwhile, those younger in their 30’s with little signs of aging besides things like under-eye bags and drooping cheeks might opt for a mini facelift in Toronto, as it is far less invasive which targets fewer areas.

Rather than throw an age on things, a better way to tell if you’re a good facelift candidate is by looking for your signs of aging. What are you insecure about? Is it wrinkles under the eyes, deep lines by the mouth, or loose skin around the jaw? If so, these are all signs you may be ready for a facelift.

At the end of the day, the best time for a facelift is when you and your surgeon feel you’re ready for one.

Non-Facelift Procedures

Not everybody wants or needs a facelift. This is why our clinic offers other procedures to help combat wrinkles.

Facial Fat Grafting

Facial fat grafting, also known as micro fat transplantation, is an injection procedure for wrinkles that takes fat cells donated from another area of the body designated by you and your surgeon. This donor area is usually a location where you have unwanted excess fat, such as the stomach or legs. After the fat is removed, the fat cells and stem cells are separated from the other unwanted elements, such as blood anesthesia.

Then, the fat is injected through small incisions into the required area, such as your cheek, temple, lips or forehead. This helps to minimize wrinkles, plump the injected area, and revitalize the youthfulness of the skin. You also get the added benefit of slimming the area from which the donor fat came.

Dermal Fillers

Dermal Soft tissue fillers are the best alternative to facial fat grafting. These types of injections for wrinkles include HA gel, Juvederm, Revanesse, Restylane or Teosyal.

There are a few advantages to using these Dermal Soft tissue fillers. Firstly, they do not require a fat donor site to be taken from to inject. Secondly, they often provide less facial swelling and bruising after the procedure. Finally, an often-appealing effect is that results are immediate. However, unlike facial fat grafting, where the cells can survive for many years, the disadvantage of gel dermal fillers is they only last about 9-14 months before wearing off and require reapplication.

Botox

Botox is an injectable purified non-animal protein derived from the bacterium clostridium botulinum. Botox temporarily relaxes muscles, helping to soften lines.

You’ve probably heard of Botox and its cosmetic use of reducing and removing fine lines from the face, and for a good reason: it works. And it’s not just for the celebrities anymore! It’s one of the most popular cosmetic procedures in the world for removing things like crow’s feet, frown lines, and forehead wrinkles. Over 4.4 million people received Botox in 2020, making it the number one minimally invasive procedure.

In Closing

At The Toronto Plastic Surgeons, we specialize in helping to reduce and remove lines and wrinkles on the face for both men and women. We perform our procedures with integrity, expertise, and professionalism.

If you’re concerned about the appearance of any of the wrinkles or lines we’ve talked about in this blog or are curious about any other procedures, please schedule a consultation online or call 647-723-3739 to speak with one of our experts. We’d love to hear from you!