Wrinkles and your facial expression(s)
By Kemi Ilori
Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The human face is a powerful communication tool. We do not need to utter a word, our facial expression can say much. As a non-verbal communication tool, facial expression is unparalleled. The term "expression" implies the existence of something that is expressed.

We achieve our different expressions by manipulating the muscles that lie under our facial skin, in the process, the skin gets manipulated.

Some animals exhibit expressions (e.g. monkeys make faces), but humans have the most ability for facial expressions. This is probably because no other animals have evolved as complex a set of facial muscles as humans have.

Wrinkling of the skin may be accelerated by excessive exposure to the sun and other elements, overactive facial expression muscles, the frequent use of tobacco products, poor nutrition, or skin disorders. Creams that claim to eradicate wrinkles are usually very expensive and are the focus of a section of the cosmetic industry. It is an industry worth billions of dollars, especially in the Western world.

Here in Nigeria , plastic surgery to eradicate wrinkles; which was extremely rare about a decade ago, is now available. A facelift is not such a strange thing anymore. Is it really worth the trouble?
There used to be a beautiful English singer called Tina Charles. She sang a couple of popular catchy songs like "Someone taught me how to dance last night,". I saw her being interviewed on television a few years ago. I almost fell off my chair! I could not recognize her at all. She looked terrible!! All her features had changed. I asked a friend who was with me, ‘What happened to her?’ (my friend is current with monitoring Popstars and things like that). She answered me in three clipped words – Repeated plastic surgery. Maybe explaining how our facial muscles work, will help some people to accept aging gracefully. It is natural. That is the crux of this article.

Facial muscles: The facial muscles are like elastic sheets that are stretched in layers over the cranium, facial bones, the openings they form, the cartilage, fat, and other tissues of the head. These are the muscles that form our facial expression, acting singly and in combination. Our skin has four layers, and each shows the effects of aging differently. The deepest layer is muscle. As I progress, I will elaborate on how it affects wrinkling.

Wrinkles: It has been said that there are two types of wrinkles; (a) Expressive wrinkles (b) Micro wrinkles. We are more concerned with expressive wrinkles. Expressive wrinkles appear throughout life i.e. from crying babies to adulthood. Our facial expressions become more permanently visible over time as expressive wrinkles. As we age, the facial skin becomes less elastic and expressive wrinkles become more set on our faces (it is interesting to note that some people with expressionless faces seem to wrinkle less readily, e.g. the Chinese). An older face has more wrinkles and the wrinkles are more pronounced. Expressive wrinkles are a major sign for recognizing or estimating age.

How do facial expressions cause wrinkles? Fine surface wrinkles progress to deeper creases, deepening facial expression due to repeated skin folding, and deep folds which develop with one's maturity are obvious changes which may combine to portray a less desirable appearance.

Expression lines result from years of laughing, frowning and squinting. And from the tension that we carry in our facial muscles when we react to stress! These constant, daily facial movements create muscle-induced lines that deepen over time. The longer the muscles remain tensed, the deeper the expression lines become.

Persistent facial lines, especially those involved in negative emotional expressions, may mistakenly portray to others, the look of worry, anger, anxiety, disgust or sadness, despite one's own positive internal feelings.

The most common expression lines are the ones that develop on our foreheads, and around our eyes and mouths. As I mentioned above, our skin has four layers, and each shows the effects of aging differently. The deepest layer is muscle. Deeply grooved expression lines on the face are caused by thickening of the facial muscles through constant use. Wrinkles produced by specific facial expression muscles repeatedly creasing the skin include, but are not restricted to;

Prominent forehead creases
Brow furrows
Eye lines (crow's feet)
Happy expressions are universally and easily recognized, and are interpreted as conveying messages related to enjoyment, pleasure, a positive disposition, and friendliness. Examples of happy expressions are the easiest of all emotions to find in photographs. When we are about to take photographs; we are asked to "C-H-E-E-S-E!" which represents a frozen smile. Some people end up looking like they are grimacing or doing something unpalatable. Happy expressions which truly relax our facial muscles are genuine ones, otherwise, we still end up with tense expressions.

Negative emotions which influence our facial expressions include sadness, anger, Anger expressions are seen increasingly often in modern society, as daily stresses and frustrations underlying anger seem to increase. People who are under pressure tend to look older because their faces express their predicament and this engraves their features over time.

Prevention of wrinkles: Wrinkles are inevitable, but keeping them few and delayed is possible. Five major things are:
Hydration - Drinking plenty of water.
Good hygiene - Keeping the skin clean and well moisturized will help keep it supple and prevent wrinkles. Dirty skin is more vulnerable to infection and irritation. Over-use of cosmetics and similar products can damage the skin and aggravate existing skin conditions such as rashes, infections, and acne
Good diet – A good diet (well balanced with plenty of fruits and vegetables) is important for supplying the skin with all the nourishment it needs. These include antioxidants to neutralize free radical damage from the sun.

Reduced tension/stress - Stress tenses up our features making our facial muscles set unpleasant expressive wrinkles on our faces.
Protection of the skin from enviromental factors – These include harsh weather conditions like the direct rays of the sun, pollution effluents, dust, etc.

Whilst facial expressions are one of the factors that make us wrinkle, they also sometimes give our faces character. It is, however, advisable to avoid forming habits that set our faces in unpleasant expressions. A good example of this is frowning. A persistent habit of frowning may lead to the formation of furrows on the forehead. It is however, most important to have a good mental attitude about how we look. As they say,"Monkey no fine, but im mama like am so!". There is also a very important aspect --> Black people seem not to age quickly in the face. Like the saying goes, Black doesn't crack!