How To Delay The Onset Of Wrinkles

It doesn't matter how well we look after our skin, at some point time is going to take its toll. For some it will be more noticeable than others though, and that's the key. How to delay the ageing process and limit the damage that time does for as long as possible.

Although in middle age and later you may not have the same skin you had when you were a child or a young adult, it doesn't mean you can't look and feel great. Before we look at how to delay the onset of wrinkles, let's take a moment to understand what happens to our skin as we grow older.

How the skin ages

The first visible signs of ageing skin are usually the development of fine lines and wrinkles which get worse over the years. However, the ageing process will have begun before the first wrinkle appeared. Over time the skin starts to lose its capacity to hold moisture (loss of barrier integrity). There is also a degeneration of elastin and collagen fibres which makes the skin thinner and thicker skin tends to have less wrinkles.

The combination of lack of moisture, loss of collagen and elastin, means the skin is more prone to dryness and will start to become saggy, and of course fine lines will appear, initially round the eyes, brows and the corners of the mouth but may also develop across the whole face.

Other changes we may experience can include itchy skin, loss of fatty tissue, and less of an ability to sweat and our skin may start to change colour. Mature skin looks rough and dry and has uneven pigmentation. At the same time we see greying of the hair and perhaps thinning of the hair or hair loss. Some people may also see growth of unwanted hair.

How to delay the ageing process

The best way of delaying the ageing process is to start taking care of your skin whilst your skin is still young, radiant and wrinkle free. Many people neglect their skin until the first wrinkle appears and then they panic and go out and spend a mountain of cash on products to try and sort it and although there's a lot you can do to delay the appearance of any further wrinkles, you get better results if you care for your skin before any visible signs of ageing appear. However, there's only so long you can delay the ageing process and it's important to remember that mature skin that is well cared for can look beautiful too, even with a few wrinkles, they can add character to a face.

Factors that will significantly speed up the ageing process include the following:

- Spending too much time in the sun
- Smoking or if you are regularly exposed to smoke
- Central heating and air conditioning systems
- Sitting in front of a computer all day
- Environmental pollutants, traffic fumes etc.
- Drinking too much alcohol
- A diet that is lacking in essential nutrients and vitamins

Obviously you need to avoid these things if you want to keep your skin looking soft, smooth and radiant for as long as possible.

If you do have to spend time in the sun make sure you wear sunscreen with an appropriate sunscreen protection factor for your skin type. Stop smoking and make sure you avoid being in the presence of smoke. If your partner smokes try and encourage them to stop or at least to smoke outside.

There are some things we can't totally avoid, we have to travel and go to work and in doing so we expose our skin to environmental pollutants and computers etc. on a regular basis. This will extract moisture from our skin so a good moisturiser is essential.

Cut down on the amount of alcohol you drink as alcohol will dehydrate your body and can dilate the blood vessels in your skin leading to broken capillaries. Drink plenty of water after drinking alcohol in order to re-hydrate your body and flush out the toxins.

One thing that many people forget is how important a good diet is for healthy looking skin. Yes it's ok to have the odd indulgence as long as your regular diet is good with plenty of fresh food, organic preferably, and you get your daily quota of fruits and vegetables and Omega 3. However, there are very few people who are getting enough omega 3 essential fatty acids in their diet these days. This is because the really important Omega 3 fatty acids are only found in any real quantities in fatty fish and it isn't advisable to eat too much fish due to the toxins they contain.

Your skin needs Omega 3 and interestingly, one of the first signs you are not getting enough is poor skin, hair and nails. One solution is to take a daily dose of fish oil but if you do this, just make sure that the fish oil you choose is good quality oil and one that contains high doses of Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) as this is the fatty acid that provides most of the amazing health benefits offered by Omega 3. Not only will the condition of your skin, hair and nails improve but so will your health in general and your mood too.

Finally, one of the most important aspects to looking good well into old age is to smile often and laugh a lot.