Is Your Lifestyle Accelerating Your Wrinkles?

When we talk about certain health conditions, it’s common to discuss modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors. Modifiable risk factors are things you can do something about and change to lower your risk, while nonmodifiable ones are the things you can’t change.

For example, you’re at higher risk for skin cancer if you’re fair-skinned, light-eyed, or have a family history of the disease — these are your nonmodifiable risk factors. Your modifiable ones include using sunscreen to protect your skin from UV rays and refraining from smoking, which makes you 1.5 times more likely to develop it.   

Did you know that lifestyle factors also age you and hasten the wrinkling process? 

Fortunately, Dr. Sharon Gertzman offers innovative treatments and skin products that can repair and minimize the damage that poor habits have caused and helps you make changes to protect your skin better. At Serenity Medical Spa, we help you look your best by creating a completely customized treatment plan.

Bad habits that harm your skin and speed up aging

Many things you know aren’t great for your overall health can also harm your skin. Here are habits that age you:

1. Eating poorly

If you eat a lot of fast food on the run, skimp on fruits and veggies, and load up on highly processed foods and sweets, you’re not doing your skin any favors. 

Some research shows that high-sugar diets accelerate aging, while other studies concluded that a “rainbow plate” of antioxidant-rich fresh produce not only has a protective effect on aging, it’s also reparative to your skin. Don’t forget whole grains, lean protein, legumes, nuts, and seeds. 

2. Burning the candle at both ends

Failing to get sufficient high-quality rest means depriving your skin of regeneration time. Not getting enough “Zs” means you produce less collagen, which keeps your skin smooth, so the term “beauty sleep” isn’t an exaggeration.

3. Persistent puffing

Smoking is one of the worst things you can do for your skin. The habit limits blood flow to your skin, so it doesn’t get the nutrients and oxygen it should. Cigarettes are also filled with chemicals that harm collagen and elastin, the proteins that strengthen your skin and make it resilient. 

Deeper lines around the eyes and smokers’ mouths are linked to years of puckering and blinking to keep smoke from getting into their eyes.

4. Being a sun worshiper

To prevent wrinkles, it’s imperative to shun the sun during its highest intensity (10am-4pm), and no matter when you’re outside, sunscreen is also an absolute must. 

The sun not only causes wrinkles and other skin issues like hyperpigmentation, but it also raises your risk for skin cancer.

Treatments that address lifestyle-related aging

No one’s perfect, and most of us are sometimes guilty of neglecting our skin. Fortunately, Dr. Gertzman offers many innovative treatments that minimize wrinkles so you can feel confident again.

Some of Dr. Gertzman’s most powerful treatments include those that stimulate your body to produce collagen. Vivace RF blends microneedling with radio frequency (RF) energy to spur quicker collagen production, strengthening your skin's foundation and plumping wrinkles.

Tempsure™ Envi sends that same RF energy into the deepest layers of your skin, where collagen creation starts. 

Injectables are treatments that work instantaneously, and you can see the difference before you leave our office. Dysport® addresses dynamic wrinkles caused by repetitive facial movements that tend to appear on your forehead, between your brows, and around your eyes. 

We also offer a variety of dermal fillers that help with static wrinkles, which develop when your skin loses fat and collagen and becomes lax. Each product is designed to help with specific problems, from plumping lip lines and minimizing nasolabial folds to erasing marionette lines — the ones that go from the corners of your mouth down to your chin — and more:

• RestylaneⓇ Refyne
• RestylaneⓇ Defyne
• RHA family of treatments - RHA ReDensity™, RHAⓇ2, RHAⓇ3, and RHAⓇ4
• RadiesseⓇ
• Sculptra™

Dr. Gertzman also helps you mitigate sun damage with intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment. It’s a perfectly safe, noninvasive treatment that uses light to gently remove layers of damaged skin so your fresh, healthy skin is revealed. You’ll notice smoother skin, minus discoloration and other unwanted effects of the sun. 

Your skin can appear more youthful and beautiful, even if you haven’t taken the best care of it.  It’s never too late to transform your look. Call our office at 609-891-3188 to book an appointment or request one virtually.