Crow's Feet Wrinkles

Crow’s feet are the fine lines that radiate out from the outer edges of your eyes. They’re often given other names, such as ‘laughter lines’, ‘character lines’, or ‘expression lines’.

If you want the technical term for crow’s feet wrinkles, it’s periorbital rhytids. (Peri means ‘around’, orbital means ‘of the eye socket’, and rhytids are ‘wrinkles’.)

Treatments:

• Botox

• Microneedling

• Skin Boosters

• Radio Frequency

• Red Light Therapy

FAQ - CROW'S FEET

What causes crow's feet wrinkles?

Crow’s feet wrinkles are caused by muscle movements. When you’re young and your skin is strong and springy, it will crease up when you use the muscles around your eyes, but will look smooth as soon as your face relaxes. But as you get older and your skin becomes less firm and less elastic, the creases around your eyes slowly settle into visible wrinkles.

As your skin ages, the collagen (the structural protein that acts as the scaffolding for the skin) gradually degrades, so it provides less support for your skin. At the same time, your level of elastin (the protein that gives your skin its bounce) drop, so there’s less of this stretchy protein to keep your skin taut.

Another factor that contributes to your skin loosening is that, as you age, the lower layer of skin in your face (the subcutaneous layer) gradually loses the fat that has been helping keep your skin plump. Worse yet, the bones in your face gradually lose some of their bulk through bone resorption, which costs your face yet more volume. Losing this volume from the bones and the fat means that your skin begins to hang loose, like a balloon that is deflating.

Depending on your genes and how well you have treated your skin over the years, crow’s feet wrinkles generally start to show up before the age of 30. They’re some of the first lines to set in on the face, partly because we make so many expressions involving our eyes, so the skin around them is constantly being stretched and scrunched, and also because the skin around the eyes is finer and drier than elsewhere on the face, and fine, dry skin is quick to wrinkle

What muscle causes crow's feet?

The muscle that causes crow’s feet is the one that surrounds your eye sockets. This muscle is called the orbicularis oculi muscle (where orbicularis means ‘ring-shaped’ and oculi means ‘eyes'). When the orbicularis oculi muscle contracts, it pulls the skin inwards toward the eyes, causing wrinkling, especially at the corners of the eyes.

Does smiling cause crow's feet?

Yes, to a point – but don’t stop smiling, because that would be a shame and it won’t help your crow’s feet much. Squinting, frowning, and any other expressions or activities that cause you to contract your orbicularis oculi muscle will also contribute to causing crow’s feet. Even blinking, which most of us do around 20,000 times a day, works your orbicularis oculi muscle and has a knock-on effect on your skin.

How do I prevent crow's feet?

Try the following to prevent or reduce crow’s feet:

• Start with appropriate skincare — The right skincare is really helpful for the eye area. Skincare is especially important if your crow’s feet lines haven’t yet appeared so in other words, you need skincare before you think you need it. The eye area has delicate skin, so you need to treat it gently. Don’t overload this skin with rich, oily creams, because those can lead to clogged white spots called milia and be cautious before you reach for hardcore ingredients. Instead, use hyaluronic acid serums to keep the skin hydrated, and seal this into place with a lightweight moisturiser. You can also use specialised hydrating eye-mask patches (the tear-shaped ones that stick onto the skin below the eye) which give a quick hydrating boost.

  
  

• Protect the skin around your eyes with sunscreen — Don’t forget to apply sunscreen around your eyes – especially since the eye area is so vulnerable to ageing. You may be able to just use the same sunscreen that you use on the rest of your face. But if your eyes are sensitive, make sure your sunscreen is fragrance-free – most eye products should be fragrance-free, but some aren’t, and they can be irritating.

  
  

• Use specialised eye creams for an extra boost — If standard skincare serums aren’t enough to keep the skin around your eyes hydrated and smooth, look for a specialised eye cream.

  
  

• Wear large sunglasses — Not just a fashion statement, oversized sunglasses protect more of the eye and block out more of the sun’s rays. UV radiation is well known to accelerate wrinkle formation through sun damage.

  
  

• Sleep on your back, or use a silky pillowcase — Sleeping on your side presses your face into the pillow, which is thought to dehydrate the skin overnight, and also to press the face into lines. A slippery silk or satin pillowcase reduces this effect.

  
  

When prevention comes up short, you can turn to treatments. See the ‘What is best for crow’s feet wrinkles?’ section, further down this page, for treatments that can help banish your crow’s feet.

What is best for crow's feet?

If your crow’s feet wrinkles are just starting to appear, you may be able to get rid of them temporarily – but they will come back as you age without continuing treatments. If your crow’s feet are already well established, you will likely be able to reduce them significantly but not get rid of them.

Various treatments can make a big difference to your crow’s feet wrinkles. Among the most promising are red light therapy, wrinkle-relaxing injections such as Botox, and skin-tightening treatments such as radiofrequency.

• Red Light Therapy - LED red light therapy can work wonders on your skin. The effects of red light therapy include reducing inflammation, encouraging cell renewal, and smoothing the skin. For best effects, you will need to repeat the treatment every few weeks. Red light treatment kicks your wound-healing response into life, causing newer, healthier skin cells to grow over several weeks after the treatment. These new cells are firmer thanks to new collagen, and absorb and retain fluid better than the old, damaged cells they replace. The fluid retention plumps up your skin, reducing lines and making it look and feel smoother.

• Wrinkle-relaxing injections - Anti-wrinkle injections, such as Botox, are really effective at softening crow’s feet wrinkles. The toxin needs to be injected into the muscles around the edge of your eyes, to deactivate the lively muscles that are so good at crumpling your skin up into creases. The fact that the treatment lasts for several months means that, during this time, it will discourage new lines from forming, as well as making existing lines less obvious. The full effect of the Botox takes up to two weeks to appear, so don’t expect an instant softening of lines in the first few days.

  
  

• Radiofrequency - Radiofrequency energy has a ‘shrink wrap’ effect on the skin. It works by heating up the collagen within the skin to the point where it contracts so you will see a small improvement immediately after treatment. The main improvement, though, comes over the next 2-3 months as the collagen, which remodels itself and produces new collagen, meaning tighter skin.

  
  

• Skin Boosters - There is a form of advanced tissue stimulators (aka skin boosters) designed specifically for around the eye areas that have a filling effect. When applied, they stimulate the skin to produce more collagen and elastin resulting in the structure and appearance to significantly improve. In addition, the product supports skin regeneration from the inside. These specialised skin boosters are different to regular skin boosters as they contain Polynucleotide (PDRN) rather than Hyaluronic Acid which in this delicate area could cause side effects in the form of lumps or lymphatic stagnation. Polynucleotide (PDRN) is obtained by purifying the DNA of salmon fish. PDRN is a low molecular weight complex that affects the repair of cells and damaged tissues, and homeostasis from within. The mechanism of action of the substance is based on stimulating the active synthesis of collagen, which helps to rebuild DNA chains and increase the production of its own elastin.