Why can't wrinkles be repaired?

DaveStone

If you have fine lines on your forehead, how come no cosmetic ingredient can actually fix them? Isn't the wrinkle on the epidermis after all (thus you wouldn't need a drug)? Moreover, why doesn't the skin naturally repair them?

Here's an interesting scenario...If you took a blade and made a light slit over a wrinkle, would the wrinkle/fine line still be there once the cut heals? After all, I would think it's part of the same skin that was just injured.

Pharma

Imagine you were to park your car outside in a hailstorm and get dents all over it... does the dilated metal sheets tighten back when you apply a cream or lotion or do the dents simply fill up to be less visible?

Paprik

Wrinkles appear on epidermis, however the problem is deeper - in dermis. Loss of collagen, elastin, fibroblasts etc ... those support your skin (like a pillar). Once you lose some of it, the skin collapses - wrinkles happen. 

To prevent wrinkles or help with them, you really need to rebuild the supportive structure in the skin. With Vit A, peptides for example.
You obviously cannot use tretinoic acid in cosmetics, but you can use retinol, retynaldehyde etc, which eventually get converted into small amount of tretinoin. 

Funny you mentioned cutting your wrinkles. Microneedling does kind of the same thing. You just don't cause any "serious" damage, that could leave scars. You basically damage the skin, so the body responds to it and starts to heal it - builds collagen, elastin, fibroblasts .... 

Cosmetic products (containing humectants) also help with suppleness, that "fill" the wrinkles with water and make them less visible.

MarkBroussard

Wrinkles are Nature's way of letting you know that it is time for you to stop breeding.  You cannot repair wrinkles because Nature wants to remind you of that every time you look in the mirror.

Wrinkles develop over the years as you use your facial muscles, the skin stretches and as @Paprik noted your body naturally produces less collagen, elastin, looser fibrils to keep it taut.  A good analogy is a pair of shoes as you wear them and they age.

CedarS

So to follow on from Mark, wrinkles mean we've just broken this face in, and it's comfortable now, thank you! 

DaveStone

Pharma said:

Imagine you were to park your car outside in a hailstorm and get dents all over it... does the dilated metal sheets tighten back when you apply a cream or lotion or do the dents simply fill up to be less visible?

That analogy doesn't work because a car isn't a living organism. Even broken bones heal.

DaveStone

Paprik said:

 
Funny you mentioned cutting your wrinkles. Microneedling does kind of the same thing. You just don't cause any "serious" damage, that could leave scars. You basically damage the skin, so the body responds to it and starts to heal it - builds collagen, elastin, fibroblasts .... 

How come microneedling isn't foolproof then?

But getting back to the original question...would a cut over a wrinkle conceivably get rid of it? I would assume all the tissue in that spot would be regenerated.

DaveStone

MarkBroussard said:

Wrinkles are Nature's way of letting you know that it is time for you to stop breeding.

Tell that to Mick Jagger.

MarkBroussard

@DaveStone

You're assuming that Mick Jagger still breeds ... but, I'd rather not know the answer to that speculative bit of info.

But, to your question, no a cut over a wrinkle would likely not get rid of the wrinkle.  The skin would heal, but highly unlikely it would rebuild enough underlying structure to eliminate the wrinkle.

Here's an experiment for you:  Slice your face with a razor blade over any wrinkles you may have and report back on the results when it heals.

ketchito

DaveStone said:

Paprik said:

 
Funny you mentioned cutting your wrinkles. Microneedling does kind of the same thing. You just don't cause any "serious" damage, that could leave scars. You basically damage the skin, so the body responds to it and starts to heal it - builds collagen, elastin, fibroblasts .... 

How come microneedling isn't foolproof then?

But getting back to the original question...would a cut over a wrinkle conceivably get rid of it? I would assume all the tissue in that spot would be regenerated.

The problem here is the way your body synthesizes proteins. When we age, the amount of crosslinks between collagen proteins is higher (crosslinks are what give skin its strenght and flexibility, but a higher degree of crosslinks can make it stiff), so it doesn't matter if you cut the skin, the way it heals will always follow the same pathway according to your age.

Pattsi

MarkBroussard said:

Here's an experiment for you:  Slice your face with a razor blade over any wrinkles you may have and report back on the results when it heals.

@MarkBroussard - Please don't encourage that. You might create a weird trend unintentionally.

DaveStone said:

How come microneedling isn't foolproof then?

It is not a one-time magic procedure, if done correctly, usually took 3 courses in 6 months period. 

@DaveStone - to your question, in theory it could be yes but every cut leaves a scar/microscar, it's there even if you can't see it. So It's the choice between scar or wrinkle.

DaveStone said:
 Even broken bones heal.

yes but also leave scar.

basic reading
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/10984-wrinkles

for fun reading ( contain little explicit images, well not that explicit tho )
https://academic.oup.com/asj/article/34/2/227/2801359

DaveStone

Pattsi said:

@DaveStone - to your question, in theory it could be yes but every cut leaves a scar/microscar, it's there even if you can't see it. So It's the choice between scar or wrinkle.

Oh that's interesting...I had not known that. Do you mean a deep cut? or even something like a papercut?