Wrinkles: Sign of Getting Old?

Last night, I heard my 9-year old brother asked mom while she’s having her evening face routine. “What is that for?”, my brother asked. Mom answered, “It is to prevent wrinkles. You know, sign of getting old.”  Then it came to me, are wrinkles just sign of getting old? What are wrinkles really?

Wrinkles are actually the lines, folds or pleats in the skin commonly found on the face specifically on the forehead, around the eyes and at the side corners of our lips. By doing simple research, I found out that skin wrinkles come out as a result of natural aging process including habitual facial expressions, too much exposure to the sun and smoking cigarettes.

As I checked each of the causes mentioned above, the very common explanation can be summarized into two words: POOR SKIN HYDRATION. Moisture is needed by our skin cells for its functions and regeneration. Smoking and prolonged exposure to the sun would decrease the moisture in our skin, causing dryness and later on the skin wrinkles. As we grow old, our outer skin layer (epidermis) becomes thinner and since the cells are also dividing slower, the capability of our skin to hold moisture reduces over time. This would then result to sagging of the skin and formation of wrinkles.

Indeed, wrinkles are natural sign of aging. But there are also some practices that we must avoid to maintain the moisture in our skins. Remember, our skin must be properly hydrated in order to retain the natural elasticity of our skin, thus, preventing wrinkles.