A wrinkle in a bedsheet can be smoothed by hand or an iron, but a wrinkle in the context of your skin is a different matter. Skin wrinkles can appear anywhere on your body. The reason we focus so much on facial wrinkles is because the thin skin of the face is the first place we see wrinkles. Wrinkles are caused by aging and sometimes other factors. There are, in fact, different types of skin wrinkles.

Those fine lines that appear around the eyes and mouth have special names- crows feet and laugh lines, respectively. They are sometimes referred to as expression lines. Anti wrinkle creams might have a little effect on lessening these lines but they are pretty much unavoidable because use our mouth and eyes every day. We cannot avoid talking, smiling, frowning, blinking and rolling our eyes! The fine wrinkles are due to the muscles on our face stretching our aging skin. Not only does skin not spring back after these muscle movements, but some bonds form between skin and these muscles, which leads to creases. These wrinkles respond to Botox treatments.

Some people have horizontal creases that run almost parallel to each other. Though it can appear anywhere on the body, one prominent area is right across the forehead. The creases disappear when skin is stretched taut. These skin wrinkles are the result a loss of elasticity due to the loss of collagen. Anti wrinkle creams can temporarily lessen the appearance of these wrinkles, but a more permanent treatment would be collagen injections.

Wrinkles and creases that appear on other parts of the face may also be due to weakening collagen and elastin beneath the skin. This damaged can be accelerated by photodamage due to the sun. Thus, you may notice parts of your face that are more exposed to the sun, such as the tops of cheeks and lips, may start appearing leathery or thickened in addition to creasing. Anti wrinkle creams can help exfoliate the top layer of damaged skin, decreasing the look of wrinkles.

Lastly, skin wrinkles may be caused by sheer gravity. In areas such as the cheeks and below the eyes, the loss of collagen and elastin as we age reduces the amount of support in the underlying collagen fiber lattice that holds up skin. With gravity, skin folds sink downwards. Jowls are common with sagging cheeks. Anti wrinkle creams do not help here; you need face lift procedures to fix gravity folds.

Although wrinkles are a part of aging, good health practices, such as wearing sunscreen and not smoking, can play a good part in maintaining our skin quality longer. A balanced diet, plenty of sleep, and a low stress life can also help. Anti wrinkle creams help aging skin, too, by helping to promote the normal cell turnover through exfoliation of dead surface cells. A combination of these practices will help you age gracefully and keep you looking as young as you feel.