Study shows women more prone to facial wrinkles

Ug. We can’t pee standing up, babies blow us to smithereens, and now this?

A study in the November December issue of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal finds there are likely differences in the skin around the mouth due to gender.  The study was done by a group in the Netherlands.  “The aim of this study is to obtain new insight into the perception that women wrinkle earlier and more severely than men.”

Findings?

• Women’s perioral skin (the skin around the mouth) has fewer blood vessels.  ?Does this lower vascularity cause wrinkles to develop faster?
• There are fewer sweat and sebaceous glands.  These glands secrete substances which lubricate the skin and  hair.  ?Does this influence the natural filling of the skin?
• The muscles around the mouth in women attach closer to the dermis.  ?does this cause increased pull inwards, which causes deeper wrinkles?

What can you do? (other than cry).  We hope studies like this will give us more options when we understand the underlying causes and anatomy.  Currently, we can improve the mouth area, but it is tough.  Options:

• FILLING: HA soft tissue fillers like Restylane and Juvederm, longer term filling using fat grafts.
• BOTOX: must be done lightly, but good for the single deep wrinkle.
• RESURFACING: lasers, chemical peels.  (I am not a fan of the dermabrasion- anything that goes too deep will get  rid of the wrinkle, but can make the skin white and waxy.)

Don’t forget prevention.  We can’t (and wouldn’t want to) change the fact we are women. (Who cares about peeing standing up anyway?)  But two factors which cause skin aging we can affect are sun and smoke.  We Northern California girls are at higher risk of wrinkling from all this lovely sun.  Wear sunscreen, including a lip gloss or lipstick with SPF.  As for smoking, thankfully most of us in the Bay Area don’t smoke.  Not only is it bad for your body, it will increase those wrinkles (especially around the mouth).