The new year is the perfect time to inject some beauty into your life by eliminating fine lines and wrinkles, erasing folds around your mouth, and adding volume into your lips with dermal fillers, the gold standard in injections.
While you probably already know that dermal fillers are extremely safe and relatively painless, there are a few secrets of which you might not be aware. In this article, we’re going to fill you in on the reasons we age, the effects ageing has on the skin, and the very effective treatments available today to turn back time and love the skin you’re in!
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What causes facial ageing?
Before we talk about the solution, let’s discuss how the problem begins in the first place.
Ageing gracefully is a beautiful thing (or so they say), but, let’s face it, there are changes that occur with age that most of us would prefer to erase or decrease dramatically. There is a great deal of wisdom, experience, and accomplishments that come with getting older. And though we might feel like we’re living our best lives on the inside, there are transformations that occur on the outside that can make you feel less confident, withdrawn, or even sad.
How Age Affects Our Skin
As the years add up, dozens of changes occur, some widely known, and some not so well-known.
13 Sign of Ageing, Both Known and Lesser-Known
- Red Facial Veins
- Sagging Brows
- Volume Loss in Temples and Cheeks
- Uneven Texture
- Age Spots and Hyperpigmentation
- Expression Lines and Static Wrinkles
- Jowls, Marionette, and Nasolabial Folds
- Bone Loss or Thinning
- Receding Hairline
- Uneven Fat Distribution
- Hyperextended Ears
- Droopy Nose
- Perioral Lines
Typically, as we get up there in years, the face loses volume, skin begins to sag, dark spots and hyperpigmentation develop, and lines and wrinkles begin to appear.
Aside from these obvious changes, however, there is also a structural metamorphosis happening behind the scenes. The forehead expands as the hairline retreats; ears get longer because the cartilage in them grows, and the nose may droop due to a weakening in the connective tissue supporting nasal cartilage.
Uneven Fat Distribution
Fat distribution also shifts. The fat in the face that was evenly distributed in our youth, begins to lose volume, clump, and shift downward, so features that were formerly round may sink, and skin that was smooth and tight gets loose and saggy. To make matters worse, other parts of the face gain fat, particularly the lower half, resulting in the dreaded double chin and jowls.
Expression Lines and Wrinkles
And, of course, there are the expression lines. Those deep wrinkles in the forehead and between the eyebrows (11 lines), a result of facial muscles continually being tugged, and eventually creasing. Other folds may get deeper because of the way fat decreases and moves around. Fine wrinkles due to sun damage, smoking, and natural degeneration of elements of the skin that keep it thick and supple also greet the above 40 set.
As the same crease forms over and over from repeated facial expressions, the lines get even deeper. Over the years, these areas of skin wear down from all that movement. If you fold a piece of paper, for example, the areas along the folds lose structural integrity and get worse the more you fold the paper. Eventually, the paper becomes covered in folds and creases and the folded areas become so worn and thin to the point that it seems like it could tear apart.
While your skin won’t actually tear, the lines do become more and more pronounced. These lines are known as static wrinkles, the lines that last even when the face is at rest.
Changes in Bone Structure and Volume
Bone structure changes a lot with age, and menopause-related changes can speed this up. While bone thinning happens to everyone at some point, facial bone tissue tends to degrade much faster in women than men. The entire face is affected by bone thinning. The eye sockets become longer and wider; the bones at the tip of the nose recede; cheekbones project less; and the lower jaw shrinks in height and length.
As facial bones lose volume, it affects how muscle and skin sits on the bones. These changes cause an aged look, making the face appear hollow, causing skin to sag. As the bones around the eye socket change, it can cause crow’s feet and forehead wrinkles to form as well. These changes start to become most obvious after age 40 and become even more prominent after 50.
An easy way to observe these changes is to take a look at a photo of your grandmother in her 70s or 80s compared to what she looked like on her wedding day. Not only does her skin appear wrinkled, but the structure of her face itself has likely changed. Sunken cheekbones and temples, drooping brows and nose, elongated ears, and the loss of a contoured jawline are all apparent.
Gravity also plays a role. Aside from bedtime, most of our lives are spent upright, with gravity pulling downward. This pull drags down the skin causing age-related changes.
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What You Can Do About It
Now that we’ve discussed the many problems that come with ageing, let’s discuss the solutions. And, thankfully, there are many!
Even if you have great genes and look much younger than you are, age-related changes in our facial appearance are unavoidable. Those changes reflect our joys and challenges in life. One approach is to simply celebrate our age and appearance for what they are.
Not everyone is comfortable with that, and some might like to postpone embracing those changes. The age-defying facelift, which surgically removes excess tissue and lifts sagging skin in the lower part of the face, is one way to try to stem the tides of time. Facelifts have improved, so the results tend to look more natural. But the surgery is expensive, and other procedures may be needed to achieve the desired results. The facelift procedure is just one of the more popular cosmetic procedures; there are plenty of alternatives for altering the ageing face.
Skin tightening procedures such as face lifts can help, but it won’t change the underlying bone structure. The best non-invasive approach is to restore volume with facial fillers. Injectable fillers plump the areas that have deflated due to bone loss, tricking the eye into seeing a more youthful face.
While the underlying bone structure has changed permanently, it’s unlikely you will look like your 20 year old self again. However, dermal fillers can make a dramatic improvement to help you look years younger.
Dermal Fillers
Dermal fillers go beyond just the cheeks. They can restore fat pad volume in many areas of the face for a more attractive, youthful appearance.
Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers contain hyaluronic acid, a substance that is naturally produced by the body. HA fillers can add volume to the lips and enhance their shape and structure by not only plumping the lips but also by trapping water within the lips for a more naturalistic, full pout.
There are muscle-relaxant injections that stop dynamic wrinkles, while dermal fillers are designed to address volume loss and sagging skin. The takeaway is that wrinkles often accompany facial volume loss. If you can’t pinpoint exactly why your face looks tyred and old, it is likely a combination of volume loss and sagging skin. Wrinkles are obvious. But the subtle changes seen with facial volume loss are harder to pinpoint.
Here’s a good way to determine if you can benefit from anti-ageing injectables like dermal fillers. Take a look at an old photograph of yourself. Do you notice how as you smiled in the photo, there were few (if any) lines under your eyes? See how the tear trough area, lips, cheeks and skin look plump and full compared to what you see in the mirror today? That’s volume loss. Dermal fillers can help correct that.
Dermal fillers are designed to treat patients between the ages of 30 to 50 years old and beyond with mild to moderate volume loss in the face and sagging skin. Using facial fillers not only improves facial volume, but it can also give the skin a smoother appearance and even reduce wrinkles in the injected area.
At Specialist Skin Solutions, a physician-led cosmetic clinic specialising in non-surgical, anti-ageing aesthetic procedures, including the latest laser techniques, dermal therapies, anti-wrinkle injections, and body contouring, we offer expert-level dermal filler injections, performed by our elite team of trained expert pros.
By relying on cutting-edge treatments and years of training, we safely administer fillers, injectables, and dermal treatments with the utmost precision and care in a relaxed, upscale setting. Stemming from our expertise, personalised guidance, and passion for skincare, we offer the latest treatments, technology, and skincare products.
At Specialist Skin Solutions, we believe in transparency and education, first and foremost, providing every client with information, explanations, and treatment options before performing any procedure.
Offering a thorough consultation prior to treatment, we’ll discuss the areas of concern and the range of treatment options suggested to produce optimal results. The amount and type of product, as well as our pricing structure, will also be discussed during the consultation process so there are no surprises other than the plump, luscious lips you’ll see when you look in the mirror!
If you’re ready to start the year off with a bang after the fireworks have become a memory, call Specialist Skin Solutions @(02) 4934 1700 today to book an appointment. We’re dedicated to helping each one of our clients feel their best by bringing out their natural beauty and loving the skin they’re in. We look forward to speaking with you!