When you see the first signs of wrinkles, your thoughts are probably not about what kind of wrinkles they are. You’re probably just wondering where they came from. But knowing what kind of wrinkles you have is essential to understanding why they’re appearing and what you can do about them. If you’ve ever wondered if your forehead wrinkles were related to your lip lines, here’s what you need to know about dynamic wrinkles vs. static wrinkles.
Collagen, Volume, and the Aging Face
Age-related changes in the skin and face lead to facial wrinkles. For that reason, it’s important to know what those changes are and what they mean for your skin. First, collagen and elastin loss have a huge impact on your skin’s structure, firmness, elasticity, and overall youthfulness. Collagen is plentiful in young skin. However, at as young as age 20, overall collagen production begins to decline. At the same time, the skin begins to lose volume and fullness. This causes the skin to sag and wrinkle, making it more difficult for the skin to bounce back and regain its youthful glow.
Dynamic Wrinkles
Dynamic wrinkles are caused by the repetitive facial movements we make every day. Every time you smile, frown, squint or furrow your brow, you’re making a temporary crease in the skin. That crease is essentially a wrinkle that vanishes once the movement stops and your face rests in a neutral position. Over time, however, these wrinkles won’t disappear immediately. In fact, you’ll eventually see them etched into a permanent position on your facial landscape. Why? There are a combination of factors. Your strong facial muscles keep those wrinkles visible, while your skin has more difficulty “bouncing back” as it did when it was younger and more elastic. Dynamic wrinkles are very common around the eyes, on the forehead, and between the eyebrows.
Static Wrinkles
Static wrinkles are visible even when the face is at rest. They are caused by the loss of essential components in the skin. These include both collagen and elastin, but also hyaluronic acid as well. Dynamic wrinkles can also become static wrinkles over time, when the skin is no longer able to rebound from the creases created by facial movements. Static wrinkles often occur around the lips and cheeks. Deep folds can occur over time, often extending down from the nose to the mouth (the nasolabial folds).
Injectable Treatments for Wrinkles
These two types of wrinkles are both frequently addressed through minimally-invasive injectable treatments. However, they are resolved using very different methods. Smoothing dynamic wrinkles involves the facial muscles, rather than the skin. This is the technology behind popular Botox, Dysport, and Xeomin treatments. These botulinum toxin products are used to safely weaken and limit the movement of key facial muscles, thus relaxing dynamic wrinkles temporarily. Patients can see a dramatic improvement in their dynamic wrinkles and often choose to continue treatments for years in order to maintain results.
Static wrinkles, on the other hand, involve the skin and soft tissue of the face. Hyaluronic acid fillers are designed to replace some of the lost volume in the skin and physically fill in static wrinkles. This makes soft tissue fillers extremely versatile as they can be used to treat everything from smoothing vertical lip lines to replacing lost volume in the cheeks.
The Right Treatment for the Problem
Injectable treatments are convenient, accessible, and extremely accessible. That’s why they’re among the most popular cosmetic treatments worldwide. Any qualified plastic surgeon will be able to help you choose the wrinkle treatment that’s right for your specific needs, but it never hurts to be informed when you head in for your consultation. There are many different treatments available depending on your goals and lifestyle, so don’t let a few wrinkles get you down. A professional like Dr. Edward Buckingham at Buckingham Center can help you look and feel your best with minimally-invasive treatment options.
If you’d like to learn more about cosmetic wrinkle treatments in Austin, Texas, call Dr. Buckingham’s office at 512.401.2500 to schedule your consultation and fight back against dynamic wrinkles, static wrinkles, or a combination of both!
