The truth about wrinkles: what are they – and what do they really say about our skin?

The human face shows the most visible signs of ageing – from frown lines to crows’ feet. But some scientists suspect wrinkles could also be driving the ageing process

The face is like a party balloon. At the height of the fun it is plump and firm, the skin is taut, the surface smooth. It shines with good health. But once the games are done and the cake demolished, there’s a perceptible sense of deflation: the firmness goes, the structure sags, the surface dulls and wrinkles.

As the most exposed area of human skin, the face is prone to wrinkling. It is here that all the factors that drive their formation come together in one place. There’s the raft of intrinsic changes that see the skin become thinner, weaker and less elastic, while the supporting muscle, bone and fat decreases. There’s the extrinsic ageing due to sun damage, smoking, poor diet and pollution that accelerate the tissue’s decline. And then there’s the impact of physical demands: when we raise our eyebrows, smile, frown, and laugh, the expressions produce lines on our faces. When young, these vanish when our face returns to rest, but as the skin ages, those lines become permanent.