Introduction
The eyes are often considered the windows to the soul, and everyone aspires to cultivate captivating, age-defying charm in their gaze. Yet, the skin around the eyes, being the thinnest and subjected to the most strain, is the first to exhibit fine lines and wrinkles. If laughter lines and crow's feet define your eye area, even the most exquisite and lively eyes can't fully conceal the tell-tale signs of aging. Nobody wants to wear their age as a badge, and the allure of maturity should be understated rather than marred by the presence of crow's feet.
Types of Crow's Feet
Crow's feet, also known as laugh lines, represent one of the manifestations of skin aging, appearing as wrinkles between the outer corners of our eyes and temples. Resembling the shape of crow's feet, these are commonly referred to as such. Crow's feet can generally be classified into dynamic and static types.
Dynamic Crow's Feet
Pigmentation acne scars are typically flat discolourations on the skin's surface. They can appear red, pink, deep brown, or black. These discolourations do not have any surface irregularities, and they usually fade gradually over time. The duration for fading may vary based on individual factors, but it generally takes about 3 to 6 months.
Static Crow's Feet
Atrophic acne scars are among the most common types of acne scars. These scars are characterized by depressions in the skin's surface, resulting in a pockmarked appearance often likened to the texture of the moon's surface. Atrophic acne scars can further be divided into three subtypes based on their appearance: Rolling Scars, Boxcar Scars, and Icepick Scars. Icepick scars are the most common among these.
Causes of Crow's Feet
The skin around our eyes is the thinnest compared to other facial areas, measuring just 0.04mm at its thinnest point, making it the most susceptible to early fine lines and wrinkles.
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Excessive Facial Expressions: The eyes undergo more frequent movements than other facial regions, involving daily facial expressions and even regular blinking, which exercises the eye muscles extensively. This frequent muscle movement accelerates the loss of collagen and elastic fibers in the skin, resulting in diminished skin elasticity and the development of wrinkles.
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Photoageing: Skin photoaging, caused by exposure to ultraviolet rays from sunlight, leads to skin cell damage. Without proper sun protection, prolonged UV exposure accelerates skin aging. Ultraviolet rays penetrate the epidermis, reaching deeper skin layers, directly damaging collagen and elastic fibers in the dermis, causing skin to sag. UV rays also promote the generation of free radicals, which damage skin cells, leading to collagen fiber rupture and the formation of crow's feet and wrinkles, among other signs of skin aging.
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Skin Dehydration: Environmental dryness from cold weather or unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption can cause skin dehydration. Prolonged skin dryness around the eyes can lead to the loss of collagen and natural hyaluronic acid in the dermis, resulting in the formation of crow's feet.
Treatments
Anti-Wrinkle Injections
For dynamic crow's feet, they can be effectively treated with anti-wrinkle injections. These injections typically involve the administration of Botulinum Toxin Type A, which is injected into the muscle groups responsible for crow's feet. This toxin inhibits nerve signal transmission and reduces muscle contraction, allowing the muscles contributing to crow's feet to relax and soften, thereby eliminating crow's feet and other wrinkles. Anti-wrinkle injections with Botulinum Toxin Type A are widely used for non-surgical medical aesthetic treatments, offering simplicity and safety. However, it demands a high level of expertise on the part of the injector to avoid the temporary side effect of drooping eyelids.
Dermal Fillers
For dynamic eye wrinkles, if left untreated, they tend to deepen over time as a result of repeated muscle movements. These wrinkles can eventually become static, persisting even when your eyes are at rest. Anti-wrinkle injections alone cannot fully remove static wrinkles because these wrinkles result from permanent skin depressions or folds rather than muscle movement. Therefore, for cases where anti-wrinkle injections alone don't achieve complete wrinkle reduction, hyaluronic acid injections are an option to fill the static crow's feet. The anti-wrinkle effects of hyaluronic acid generally last for 5 to 6 months, with immediate visibility post-treatment. Over time, the injected hyaluronic acid is gradually metabolized by the body, necessitating re-injection to maintain the anti-wrinkle effects.