Howdy!
Today’s post is about one of the biggest skincare concerns of women – crow’s feet. Crow’s feet are wrinkles that form on your temple and at the cheeks near the outer corner of your eyes. Being one of the first signs of ageing, this is one of the most dreaded skincare issues.
1. How to distinguish crow’s feet?
Crow’s feet are dynamic wrinkles meaning that they are most distinguishable when the muscles of the face contract, as in smiling or squinting. Now, not all lines at the outer corner of eyes can be called crow’s feet. Some are mere smile lines.
2. How to differentiate between smile lines and crow’s feet?
Smile. You will see fine lines going from outer corner of eyes to temples. If these lines go away when you stop smiling, they are smile lines. If they stay, they are crow’s feet.
3. When do signs of crow’s feet typically appear?
It varies from person to person but the average is about mid-thirties.
4. What causes this condition?
The 3 Ss: smiling, squinting and sleeping. Other factors that contribute to the problem are excessive sun exposure, smoking and menopause.
5. How to prevent crow’s feet?
Some expert tips to prevent crow’s feet are as follows:
a. Avoid squinting
Squinting is a significant cause of this condition. The more you contract the large muscles around your eyes, the more wrinkles you will develop. The best way to avoid this is to wear sunglasses when outdoors, even when the sun is not scorching.
b. Avoid excessive sun exposure
UV rays damage your skin’s collagen and elastin leading to loose, hanging skin. The result is wrinkled skin. Whenever you are outdoors, always use a broad spectrum sunscreen that blocks both UV-A and UV-B light.
c. Do not smoke
Smoking damages collagen. It dehydrates your skin leading to more creases.
d. Sleep smart
It is not actually sleeping that causes the problem but the way you sleep. Sleep on your back because it eliminates fine lines created by the creases of your pillow. Try using U-shaped travel pillows and satin pillow cases.
e. Get your beauty sleep
When you do not sleep enough, the body produces less growth hormone, which is a part of everyday tissue repair. And your body will produce more cortisol, which will damage the skin’s collagen leading to sagging, wrinkled skin.
f. Drink enough water
Dry, dehydrated skin sags and exaggerates the condition of crow’s feet. So stay hydrated from within.
g. Moisturize and exfoliate
The skin around your eyes is more delicate and hence needs extra care. Look for an eye cream that contains hydrating ingredients like antioxidants, peptides, glycerin. Also look for Vitamin A, Vitamin C and green tea in your skincare products. Exfoliate with glycolic acid.
h. Take breaks
If you sit in front of your laptop screen for hours at a stretch, it can strain your eyes, giving rise to crow’s feet. Take breaks from time to time. Use screen filters to reduce glare and adjust the brightness to avoid any squinting.
i. Take a diet rich in anti-oxidants
Free-radical damage wreaks havoc on skin causing collagen to break down. Antioxidants naturally protect our skin from the environment, especially sun damage.
6. How to treat crow’s feet?
The most effective and near permanent fix to crow’s feet is Botulinum toxin aka Botox. This keeps the collagen from breaking down completely. It halts crow’s feet from forming and treats existing lines by paralyzing the muscles around your eyes known as the orbicularis muscles, thus effectively preventing them from contracting and deepening wrinkles. But there are also many other ways too:
a. Any cream that brings moisture to your skin and gives it a healthy glow will help reduce crow’s feet. Creams like Olay Regenerist Eye Cream and a range of Kaya’s anti-ageing products have been shown to give good results if used regularly.
b. Chemical peels are a simple way to treat those ugly lines. These can be done at a medical spa or a doctor’s clinic. Peels work by removing layers of dead skin, leaving you with fresh, radiating skin. Glycolic peels are some of the most effective ones.
c. Grapes constitute the ingredients in most anti-ageing products. They contain vitamins, anti-oxidants, phytonutrients and phytochemicals.Try mashing a handful of green grapes and applying the juice with a cotton ball on the eyes, mouth and forehead area. Rinse it off after 5 minutes and repeat it 2-3 times weekly to help reduce fine lines!
d. Another easy and natural treatment to crow’s feet is egg white. It works by tightening the skin and thus helps reduce wrinkles. Apply the egg white of one egg on a clean face, keep for 15 minutes and wash off with lukewarm water.
e. A cosmetic ingredient worth paying for is retinoid. Topical retinoids help treating crow’s feet by inducing new collagen growth in the skin.
f. Injectable fillers can also be used to soothe out the crow’s feet lines.
g. Lastly, treatments such as lasers can improve crow’s feet by inducing regrowth of collagen. Remember that a treatment that has minimal side effects (redness and peeling) will also have minimal results. Laser treatments give the most dramatic results, but also have the highest risk of side effects.
P.S. Please do not embark on the treatments yourself without consulting a good and trusted dermatologist.
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