Surgical Procedures Non Surgical Procedures Your Problem Areas  

wrinkles, crows feet, frown lines, sagging skin, folds

Anti Wrinkle Cosmetic Treatments

Injecting Botox to remove wrinkles

What causes wrinkles?

A wrinkle is a ridge or crease on the surface of the skin. Wrinkles are caused by a loss of 'elastin' and/or 'collagen' in the skin tissue. Skin can become wrinkled from long exposure to water, however skin wrinkling that occurs as a normal part of the aging process is our core concern.

Wrinkles occur over time as a result of the continuous and repeated movement in your skin caused by facial expression, aging, sun damage, exposure to smoke poor skin hydration, and various other environmental factors. Our skin is made up of three basic layers, the dermis, epidermis and subcutaneous tissue. The epidermis is the outer layer. The function of this outer layer of skin tissue is to act as a barrier to the external environment. The second layer of skin, the dermis contains the structural elements of the skin and connective tissue. The dermal-epidermal connection interlocks forming finger like projections called 'rete ridges'. The cells of the epidermis (outer skin layer) receive their nutrients from blood vessels in the dermis. The rete ridges add to the surface area of the epidermis that is exposed to these blood vessels and the needed nutrients. Subcutaneous Tissue The base layer of skin is the subcutaneous tissue containing fat cells. Fat cells in the skin provide insulation to the body and make the skin look plump or full.

As Your Skin ages the epidermal cells generally become thinner and less connected. Thinner epidermal cells make the skin look noticeably thinner. Being less connected the effectiveness of the barriers function also diminish allowing more moisture to be released instead of being kept in the skin. Additionally elastin fibres in the skin the provide flexibility begin to be less effective reducing skin elasticity. These changes in the skin cause wrinkling and sagging.

The good news is that there are many anti wrinkle treatments that are effective at addressing the appearance of aging.

temporary dermal fillers and anti wrinkle creams
permanent anti wrinkle dermal treatments
anti wrinkle relaxing injections
face lift (plastic surgery)
mini facelift (plastic surgery).



JARGON BUSTER

Rhytid

Cosmetic Surgery Dictionary

A 'rhytid' is the medical term for a wrinkle, line, or crease in the skin which is usually considered to be cosmetically undesirable.
Pronunced(RYE-tid)

Other terms in common use would be:- Crows feet, furrows, creases, skin folds, frown lines, sagging skin, aging skin, eye wrinkles, eye bags

JARGON BUSTER

What is Botox?

BOTOX® is the trade name of a medical/cosmetic product from Alergan. BOTOX or Botulinum toxin is a purified neurotoxic protein produced by the clostridium botulinum bacterium, which decreases the activity of the muscles when directly injected.

Botuninum toxin is used to treat medical conditions such as muscle spasms on the face or eyelids, eye movement disorders, such as a lazy eye and spasmodic torticollis, a muscle spasm that causes the head and neck to pull in one direction. Botuninum toxin has found it's way into the cosmetic industry under the cosmetic brand 'BOTOX®' for aesthetic uses sush as temporarily smoothing frown lines, crows feet, wrinkle reduction and decreasing sweating.