https://beautyaal.com/what-are-wrinkles-and-what-are-its-causes/
Wrinkles are a common phenomenon for everybody as they age. There are ridges or crease appearing on the surface of the skin that we call as wrinkles. However, not everyone get wrinkles in the same proportion as they age. This is due to the fact that external factors play a good role in someone’s having wrinkles earlier than others. The major external factors include exposure to sun, smoking, poor hydration, different muscle contraction of the face, etc.
The most common cause of aging is of course genetic. With the aging process, the rate of skin cell division and reproduction slows down. The fat cells below are atrophied and results in less production of collagen and elastin that are important for the skin to be elastic. This results in the skin to sag as it loses its elasticity and form creases in the skin. The skin also is less able to absorb as well as retain moisture in this situation. The skin is thus not able to produce sweat and oil and the skin starts to become dry and scaly. As the cells of the skin are dividing as well as reproducing at lower rates, any wounds that occur on the skin takes more time to heal and there are scar formation on the skin surface.
Another important reason for getting wrinkles on the face is contraction of the muscles of the face. This is generally caused by making repeated facial expressions. With the aging, the skin loses the elasticity and rebuilding ability. Hence, whenever, there are repeated facial expressions like smiling, frowning, brow furrowing or laughing, the skin loses the ability to bounce back. This is the cause of crow’s feet, frown lines as well s other wrinkles appearing on the skin.
The third cause of aging is over-exposure to sun rays. The appearances of wrinkles are aggravated when the skin is exposed to UVA or UVB from sunlight. It is the overexposure to this sunlight that results in 90% of all the appearance of wrinkles. By the time a person reaches the age of 20, the major effects of sun damage are completed. In addition to the appearance of wrinkles, the UV rays make our body unable to heal its infection, skin disorders, and cancer.
The skin produces metalloproteinase enzymes to help the skin in producing collagen and heal itself. But, many of these metalloproteinase enzymes break down and corrupt the collagen which they are supposed to increase. This results in an over-formation of abnormally-formed elastin. All these factors together account for the formation of solar scars. As the imperfect skin formation happens repeatedly, there are occurrence of wrinkles and other premature aging signs on the skin. In a study conducted on sun damage, it has been found that when the skin is exposed to sun for only 15 minutes, light to medium skin tones had an increased level of metalloproteinases for about a week.
The last cause of the appearance of wrinkles is smoking. It has been found that just smoking for 10 years can damage the skin irreversibly and at the same time speed up aging process.
