Facial wrinkles are associated with age. In general, the more wrinkles that you have, the older you appear. If anyone has ever asked you to guess their age, one of the first things that you look for, whether you realize it or not, is the presence...

of facial wrinkles. Euphemisms have been adopted to somehow minimize this consequence of aging. For example, “crow’s feet” refer to wrinkles around the eyes and “laugh lines” are those that develop around the mouth.

Wrinkles are caused by a combination of many factors, all of which accumulate with age. When we are born, we have a fairly thick layer of fat that covers almost every surface of our body. As we age, that layer of subcutaneous fat thins, especially in the face. Also, the collagen and other connective tissue in skin breaks down, further thinning the skin that covers the face. With suntans and burns, skins cells become damaged and the cells that are formed to replace them are not quite the same. That same thing hold true as we age, the new skins cells that form to replace the ones that have died are less plump and less vibrant as the ones when that grew when we were younger.

Most of these changes are difficult to combat or control, but one factor that causes wrinkles can be corrected (rather rapidly, in fact). Since the skin and tissue covering these muscles thins with age, any contraction of the muscles of the face magnifies and deepens these wrinkles. Over time the wrinkles appear as permanent creases. For those that wish to appear younger and reduce facial wrinkles, BOTOX® Cosmetic offers the possibility of relaxing tense muscles that constrict the face.