The most frequent aspect of skin health that most of us want to improve on or avoid is the most tell-tale sign of ageing of all – wrinkles.
Environmental Effects
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Sunlight Exposure
Sunlight exposure is a definite cause of wrinkles. In the skin’s dermal layer, sunlight’s UV-A and UV-B rays cause the skin’s most important structural protein, collagen, to break down at a higher rate. These UV rays also cause the accumulation of abnormal elastin (another important structural protein in the skin which is responsible for the skin’s elasticity. When UV-damaged elastin accumulates, large quantities of metalloproteinases (a group of enzymes including collagenase and elastase) are produced. These metalloproteinases malfunction and begin to break down the skin’s collagen into disorganized collagen fibers known as solar scars. With time, this imperfection in the skin’s rebuilding process directly causes wrinkles.
Researchers estimate that exposure to UV-A and UV-B from sunlight are responsible for 90% of wrinkles, therefore minimising your skin’s exposure to the sun is the number one strategy that you can put into place to avoid wrinkles. Look at those areas of your skin that rarely or never receive sunlight exposure (your bottom for instance) and notice their totally wrinkle-free status.
Gravity
Gravity is one of the uncontrollable causes of wrinkles. As the skin becomes looser and thinner with age, gravity causes the remaining skin to sag. The most visible signs of gravity-induced wrinkles are jowls and drooping eyelids.
Free Radicals
The most significant cause of free radicals generation is exposure to the UV component of sunlight. Other free radical generators include tobacco smoking and exposure to air pollution.
