Eye wrinkles: 3 treatments to improve eye wrinkles without surgery

“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come”; that Shakespear was a wise old chap, wasn’t he?! He was right in that smiling, laughing, and facial movement all contribute to eye wrinkles.

Some of us like those ‘laughter lines’ around our eyes, whereas some of us would rather that they were slightly less obvious, perhaps. The good news is that there are many non-surgical eye wrinkle treatments for you to explore. Today, I’m going to touch on three non-surgical treatments that we offer at our Hertfordshire skin clinic, as well as a few eye creams for wrinkles that you may wish to look up and research.

There are more treatments to discover beyond the three below, in fact, here we have an entire suite of skin treatments, but we’d be here all day if I tried to cover them all. Nevertheless, you can have a browse around our treatments whilst you’re here, if you like.

What causes eye wrinkles?

Let’s start with a very important question: What causes eye wrinkles?

Generally, with age, there are two things happening that mainly contribute to eye wrinkles. Firstly, you’re losing collagen and elastin at an alarming rate after your late 20s and for us women, this is greatly exasperated from the perimenopause onwards.

Collagen and elastin are the proteins in your skin the gives it support, structure, and the ability to snap back into place; without them, your skin sags, thins, wrinkles, and become crepy.

Secondly, below your skin sits muscle that surrounds your eyes. This muscle is called ‘orbicularis oculi’ which totally encircles the eye. It’s in charge of closing our eyelids. When this muscle contracts it causes folds and wrinkles in our skin surrounding our eyes; these wrinkles are temporary, occurring only during movements such as laughing, squinting, winking, and smiling. You may hear of these wrinkles that only appear during facial movement being called ‘dynamic wrinkles’.

Over time the collagen and elastin in our skin which allows it to be smooth and firm again after movement starts to breakdown, allowing those dynamic eye wrinkles and folds to become permanent features; these are called ‘static lines’ and are winkles that are there even when our face isn’t moving.

Will eye wrinkles go away?

Not on their own. There are ingredients in eye creams for wrinkles that can help prevent the breakdown of your collagen and elastin, as well as to help to correct existing wrinkles. There are also excellent non-surgical eye wrinkles treatments available which can soften and improve those lines and wrinkles.

Eye cream for wrinkles

Eye creams are something that you should invest in, even if you’re planning on having wrinkle treatment around your eyes; especially if you’re having treatment for eye wrinkles in fact, as you could liken it to going to a hygienist to professionally clean your teeth but not brushing them either side of your appointments. What’s the point in that. Eye cream can help to maintain your treatment results.

Here are a few eye creams that we like that you may wish to research further:

Medik8 retinol or retinal eye creams: retinol and retinal are both forms of vitamin A. Vitamin A regulates your skin cell turnover which means that hyperpigmentation around your eyes that’s appeared from sun damage will gradually lighten. Vitamin A will also help to rejuvenate your skin by stimulating collagen production, tackling lines and wrinkles.

The difference between retinol and retinal is the speed at which it works. Retinal is faster and therefore more potent than retinol. If you’re new to this ingredient, it may be advisable to start with retinol because it’s better for more sensitive skin and you’re less likely to experience unwanted side effects, such as dryness, redness, and sensitivity. More is not better when it comes to this ingredient; we notice that if you apply more than the recommended amount and/or jump in at a high strength, this is where you can run into these side effects. Start low and be consistent.

We like the Medik8 range as they’ve formulated vitamin A creams specifically for the delicate eye area. They also use time-release technology so you’re less likely to experience those unwanted side effects I mentioned. If you head to their website, you’ll also see that their claims are supported by clinical trials; frankly, we wouldn’t waste our time or money if a product (or skin treatment) didn’t have data to back their efficacy.

If in doubt, seek professional guidance. If you use vitamin A cream, it’s vital to use an SPF in the daytime as part of your skincare regimen... and generally if you’re trying to fight the good fight against skin ageing.

Revision Skincare DEJ eye cream: Ok this one is high end in terms of investment but what you’re paying for isn’t fodder and marketing. Revision Skincare is scientific.

The Dermal-Epidermal Junction (that’s what the ‘DEJ’ stands for) is the area where two layers of our skin meet-the dermis and epidermis. The DEJ has many, many important functions, including skin healing, as well as containing a lot of collagen.

Age related changes to the DEJ results in your skin becoming more fragile and losing its structural integrity. Hello thin, fragile, wrinkled, sagging, crepy skin.

This eye cream was formulated based on research into the Dermal-Epidermal Junction (see, science). It restores and renews the appearance of ageing skin and promotes the skin’s natural, healthy microbiome. In a 12-week clinical trial it was found that 90% of subjects experienced an improvement in upper eyelid appearance and 87% of subjects experienced a statistically significant improvement in visual smoothness in the crow’s feet area. Of course, results will vary, as with any product or treatment.

These are not recommendations unique to you as, sadly, we’ve probably never met and there are many eye creams for wrinkles... but seeing as these are not ‘high street’ brands that you’ll find browsing the shelves of Boots or Superdrug, I thought I’d highlight them to you. Go forth and research.

Eye wrinkles treatment

Polynucleotides

You may have heard a lot of buzz around this skin treatment but if the name polynucleotides, which simply rolls off the tongue, doesn’t ring a bell then perhaps the salmon sperm facial may.

How Polynucleotides work

Salmon sperm facial sounds rancid, hey. No judgement if that’s what you’re into but then you’ll probably be a bit disappointed to know that a polynucleotide treatment does not consist of applying a jar of salmon sperm to your eye wrinkles in the quest for younger skin.

Polynucleotides are an injectable treatment that works on the quality of your skin and can be specifically placed to target your trouble spots, for example, eye wrinkles under eye. It consists of a biocompatible protein derived from fish DNA, often salmon sperm, which is injected under the skin.

Once injected polynucleotides trigger healing and regeneration which, in simple terms, means lots of new collagen and elastin is formed in the treated area.

A course of three treatment sessions, at monthly intervals, is recommended for full results. Eye wrinkles are softened, skin has more elasticity, skin texture is improved, and inflammation is reduced. Perfecto.

Wrinkle relaxing injections

You’ll probably know this better as Botox, a brand of botulinum toxin type A which is the product used for wrinkle relaxing injections. There are other brands that do this, it’s just that Botox is the best known.

How do wrinkle relaxing injections work

If you think back to the start when we spoke about the orbicularis oculi muscle that surrounds the eye and how, when it contracts, you get a wrinkling of the skin that sits on top of it... wrinkle relaxing injections can be used to reduce and soften the movement of the muscles that cause eye wrinkles when smiling; these wrinkles at the side of your eyes are frequently called ‘crows-feet’ wrinkles.

It stands to reason that if your wrinkles are being caused by muscle movement then one of the logical things to do is reduce that movement.

Once you’ve got your results from this treatment, you can consider using eye cream as well as other eye wrinkle treatments, should you require, that specifically improve the skin by stimulating rejuvenation. Eye wrinkle treatments, such as polynucleotides, can work well in combination with wrinkle-relaxing around the eyes to give you the ULTIMATE outcome.

You should see your full results by two weeks following the treatment; most clinics will offer you a review at two to four weeks to assess your outcome and, if necessary, they may add a little more product to the area to perfect your results if agreed and needed.

Oh, before we move on, let me address the wrinkle-free elephant in the room: the term ‘toxin’. SO many people have been put off this treatment in the past because, honestly, the idea of injecting yourself with a toxic substance sounds a little bit crazy but, much like the salmon ‘sperm’ treatment discussed earlier, the ingredient used for wrinkle relaxing is a substance derived from bacterium. It is considered safe. So safe, in fact, that it’s used in pediatrics-a branch of medicine that treats children- to manage symptoms for neurological conditions like cerebral palsy, as well as in other areas of mainstream medicine.

Thermage skin tightening

As we become older, not only can wrinkles form around our eyes but our eyelids can become heavy-looking and start to sag; this can make us look tired, our eyes less open, and we can look less alert. If you wear eye makeup, this may become more challenging as mascara can start to rub off on the upper lid and you may have to physically lift the lid to apply eye shadow and eyeliner. So, not only can sagging eyelids impact our confidence, but they’re inconvenient too!

There is a non-surgical treatment that helps to retract eyelids and firm and smooth the skin around the eyes. It’s been around for decades and has a global following of fans including some well-known faces such as Jennifer Anniston.

Meet Thermage.

How does Thermage work?

Thermage uses a non-invasive technology called radio frequency to precisely target the layer of your skin where collagen and elastin is created and where old, existing collagen and elastin sits. Radio frequency safely and effectively heats the treated skin, allowing it to think that there has been an injury... trickery! This means that your skin goes into repair and regenerate mode which means that new collagen and elastin is formed and the existing collagen will be stimulated to work a little better (which is why you may see an immediate tightening of the skin).

All you have to do following the treatment is have a little patience whilst your skin works hard growing new collagen and elastin and rejuvenating itself. These results are gradual, slowly building in the weeks and months following your Thermage eye treatment, so there’s no abrupt changes to your appearance. Firmer, smoother, tighter skin is worth the (short) wait.

Is Eye Wrinkle Treatment Worth It?

If you’re curious about eye wrinkle treatment and discussing how we can support your specific needs, arrange a consultation at our CQC regulated and Save Face accredited Hertfordshire skin clinic today.