Top 10 Reasons you age your skin
- Sleeping on Your Sides and Stomach: You might get a good night’s sleep on your sides and tummy, but you’re unnecessarily stressing your skin. Fetal and tummy sleeping positions cause uneven blood circulation, which locks up nourishment, blood, and oxygen on some parts of your body, while depriving other body parts, including skin, which causes it to become wrinkled. Not only do these sleeping positions cause wrinkles, but poor blood circulation also causes fluids to be stuck around your eyes. This contributes to the formation of eye bags and dark under eye circles that make you look tired and older. Additionally, sleeping on the face or on one side can result in worsening of age-related descent of our features.
- Central Heating: Many of us spend a fortune on anti-aging products, yet we may regularly accelerate skin aging without even being aware of it. The central heating and air conditioning systems that many of us use at home and at work can severely dry out skin, leading to premature aging and wrinkles. To help keep skin youthful and soft, try turning down the heat and wearing more layers to stay warm instead. We suggest increasing humidity by keeping a glass of water in the room, while wearing a protective face cream, which can help relieve dryness.
- Smoking: It is ranked second only to sun exposure as the leading cause of wrinkles. It interferes with the absorption of Vitamin A and C, both of which provide us with skin protection. This is because nicotine, the main ingredient in cigarettes, promotes dehydration. It also narrows the blood vessels in the outermost layers of the skin. This impairs blood flow, depleting it of oxygen and important nutrients such as Vitamin A. It also damages collagen and elastin, two different kinds of fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. This damage makes the skin sag and wrinkle prematurely. Smoking also decreases the healing process due to its effect on blood vessels. The heat from the cigarette causes irritation around the eyes and forces the smoker to squint more. This leads to increased wrinkles, especially around the eyes. You will also develop hollowed cheeks around the mouth from many years of dragging this in between your lips.
- Sugar: Eating too much sugar is clearly bad news for your waistline; however, sugar consumption can be just as bad for the skin. Sugar consumption is a top contributor to wrinkling of the skin. When blood sugar levels are high, a process called glycation occurs, causing damage to the collagen in your skin. Once damaged, the normally springy collagen hardens, leading to wrinkles and sagging.
- Drinking: All alcohol dehydrates the skin. This means your skin will appear less plump and fresh the morning after you drink alcohol. Over time, your skin will lose elasticity and form wrinkles due to a lack of hydration. Additionally, alcohol can have a huge negative impact on your vitamin A levels, which is a very important antioxidant for your skin and body, and it is vital for the regeneration of new cells. Vitamin A is also extremely important in the production of collagen. When you have lower amounts of collagen, you lose elasticity in your skin. Collagen and elastin keep your skin supple, taut, and looking young.
- Chewing Gum: Gum chewing produces a type of wrinkle that I see quite often on the lower mouth. Additionally, it causes other issues in the mouth structure. This is an easy habit to give up in the name of preserving your skin.
- Not Removing Makeup: When you sleep in your makeup, you’re basically asking for wrinkles. The makeup and environmental pollutants you accumulate during the day seep into your pores, breaking down collagen and elastin. This can speed up the aging process and leave you with fine lines and wrinkles. Cleanse and moisturize your skin every night before bed in order to minimize the damage done by exposing your skin to environmental pollutants and makeup throughout the day.
- Stretching Your Skin to Apply Makeup: This practice creates wrinkles—and is generally frowned upon in the makeup world. You should do your makeup how everyone else is going to see you, and hopefully it’s not with your mouth stretched open and eyebrows lifted so you can put on your mascara. Don’t pull on your eyes and stretch them so you can put on your eyeliner. It’s about moving your whole face when you’re applying makeup, not stretching it so it’s flat.
- Skipping Sunscreen: We’ve all been told to never skip the sunscreen, but it’s often tempting when many of us spend our days indoors. However, 90% of UV rays penetrate glass and can cause damage even when we’re indoors or driving in the car. Even a few minutes of sun exposure can lead to a breakdown of collagen, which contributes to fine lines and wrinkles. Wear sunscreen every day, rain or shine, so that you don’t get sun damage. Choose an SPF 30 with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.
- Lack of Commitment: It is never too late to turn back the hands of time by following the tips above and giving us a call to schedule your complimentary skin analysis consultation to learn what professional skin treatments and products are best for your skin type and concerns. InfinityLaserAndSkin.com 314.862.1000
