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Chapters

0:00 Introduction
0:24 Limit sugar intake
0:45 Wash your face
1:08 Avoid UV light
1:24 wear a sunscreen
1:42 Coconut Oil
2:00 Quit smoking
2:15 Try supplementing with beta carotene.




A wrinkle, also known as a rhytid, is a fold, ridge or crease in an otherwise smooth surface, such as on skin or fabric. Skin wrinkles typically appear as a result of ageing processes such as glycation,[1] habitual sleeping positions,[2] loss of body mass, sun damage,[3] or temporarily, as the result of prolonged immersion in water. Age wrinkling in the skin is promoted by habitual facial expressions, aging, sun damage, smoking, poor hydration, and various other factors.[4] In humans, it can also be prevented to some degree by avoiding excessive solar exposure and through diet (in particular through consumption of carotenoids, tocopherols and flavonoids, vitamins (A, C, D and E), essential omega-3-fatty acids, certain proteins and lactobacilli).[5]
Skin
Main article: Skin fold
Causes for aging wrinkles
Wrinkles on the face and hands are a typical sign of aging

Development of facial wrinkles is a kind of fibrosis of the skin. Misrepair-accumulation aging theory suggests that wrinkles develop from incorrect repairs of injured elastic fibers and collagen fibers.[6][7][8] Repeated extensions and compressions of the skin cause repeated injuries of extracellular fibers in derma. During the repairing process, some of the broken elastic fibers and collagen fibers are not regenerated and restored but replaced by altered fibers. When an elastic fiber is broken in an extended state, it may be replaced by a "long" collagen fiber. Accumulation of "long" collagen fibers makes part of the skin looser and stiffer, and as a consequence, a big fold of skin appears. When a "long" collagen is broken in a compressed state, it may be replaced by a "short" collagen fiber. The "shorter" collagen fibers will restrict the extension of "longer" fibers, and make the “long" fibers in a folding state permanently. A small fold, namely a permanent wrinkle, then appears.
Sleep wrinkles

Sleep wrinkles are created and reinforced when the face is compressed against a pillow or bed surface in side or stomach sleeping positions during sleep.[9] They appear in predictable locations due to the underlying superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS), and are usually distinct from wrinkles of facial expression.[10] As with wrinkles of facial expression, sleep wrinkles can deepen and become permanent over time, unless the habitual sleeping positions which cause the wrinkles are altered.[11]
Water-immersion wrinkling
A wrinkled finger after a warm bath
Adult sole showing water immersion wrinkling

The wrinkles that occur in skin over prolonged exposure to water are sometimes referred to as pruney fingers or water aging. This is a temporary skin condition where the skin on the palms of the hand or feet becomes wrinkly. This wrinkling response may have imparted an evolutionary benefit by providing improved traction in wet conditions,[12] and a better grasp of wet objects.[13] These results were called into question by a 2014 study that failed to reproduce any improvement of handling wet objects with wrinkled fingertips.[14] However, a 2020 study of gripping efficiency found that wrinkles decreased the force required to grip wet objects by 20%, supporting the traction hypothesis.[15]

Prior to a 1935 study, the common explanation was based on water absorption in the keratin-laden epithelial skin when immersed in water,[16] causing the skin to expand and resulting in a larger surface area, forcing it to wrinkle. Usually the tips of the fingers and toes are the first to wrinkle because of a thicker layer of keratin and an absence of hairs which secrete the protective oil called sebum.

In the 1935 study, however, Lewis and Pickering were studying patients with palsy of the median nerve when they discovered that skin wrinkling did not occur in the areas of the patients' skin normally innervated by the damaged nerve. This suggested that the nervous system plays an essential role in wrinkling, so the phenomenon could not be entirely explained simply by water absorption. Recent research shows that wrinkling is related to vasoconstriction.[17][18] Water probably initiates the wrinkling process by altering the balance of electrolytes in the skin as it diffuses into the hands and soles via their many sweat ducts. This could alter the stability of the membranes of the many neurons that synapse on the many blood vessels underneath skin, causing them to fire more rapidly. Increased neuronal firing causes blood vessels to constrict, decreasing the amount of fluid underneath the skin. This decrease in fluid would cause a decrease in tension, causing the skin to become wrinkly.[19]