Your First Wrinkle: A Guide to Starting Your Anti-Aging Journey.

By Tiffany M. Darnold, MMS, PA-C, Couture Med Spa Oviedo

Don’t have a New Year’s Resolution yet? It’s not too late! Let’s set a goal to take better care of you, starting with your anti-aging journey. After all, you deserve it!

The Situation: Your Collagen Production is Declining

Before your first wrinkle is even visible, your body has already started its journey towards aging in your early 20s. Your collagen is decreasing at a rate of 1-2% per year, diminishing the support for your skin. Over the years, your once bright complexion will start to wrinkle and sag. Stress will also start to take its toll and your face will not only show your stressed mood or frustration but creases as the muscles contract and fold, just like folding a piece of paper.

That line (a.k.a. a wrinkle) can be hard to get out or fade. Also, major folds start to develop later in life as essential facial fat pads start to disappear allowing the skin to sag in the areas of the lower half of the face.

BUT THERE’S GOOD NEWS! There are ways to start preventing your wrinkles before they happen and even ways to help soften the appearance of wrinkles that are already visible.

First Step: Preventing Wrinkles

The first step in the fight against wrinkles is prevention.  Start using retinol, retinoids, or Retin-A early in life to help skin turnover as well as to prevent and even start correcting wrinkles from collagen loss.  Also, prevent wrinkles or even treat them in the forehead, between the brows (those pesky “elevens”), and next to the eyes ( crow’s feet) by using Botox or Dysport to reduce muscle movement and soften the creases which start to occur from our muscles contracting. We can even use Botox or Dysport to help with ‘bunny lines’ which occur across our nose. These wrinkles have developed over the years due to facial movement usually caused by stress, crying, smiling, and even squinting our eyes while we study or when the sun is too bright. Also, throwing sunglasses into our wardrobe can help stop squinting and help prevent some wrinkles as well.

Second Step: Treat Wrinkles Early

The second step in the anti-aging process is early treatment. Treat wrinkles as soon as they start to appear with Botox or Dysport for the forehead, elevens between the brows, crows, and bunny lines. For the rest of the face start Non-ablative Fractional Laser treatments as soon as possible and continue using retinol. Fractional treatments help stimulate collagen production and resurface the skin to soften fine lines/wrinkles and improve the texture of your skin, including scars!

If you’re using retinol and doing fractional laser treatments, remember to stop the use of retinol for 5-7 days prior to your fractional treatment and after your treatment as well. Retinol is safe between treatments if you use it at a safe interval. If your wrinkles are moderate-to-severe and need further improvement, consider filler in the lower two-thirds of the face for instant results.

Here at Couture Med Spa, we can help! We currently have three convenient locations in Oviedo, Winter Park, and Ocoee, and soon we’ll have a fourth location in Lake Mary. Join us at CoutureMedSpa.com or give us a call for your consultation and VISIA analysis. Let us help you start your anti-aging journey today!!!