The Truth About Preventing and Treating Crow’s Feet

We have all seen the those fine lines around our eyes. Perhaps we see them more on a day when we’ve been squinting in the sun or when we haven’t gotten enough sleep – crow’s feet. Radiating from the corners of your eyes, crow’s feet are among the first wrinkles to develop in men and women. Crow’s feet usually develop in your 30s but can develop years before depending on your lifestyle and genetics. Crow’s feet can prematurely age us and while they may not bother some, most people would prefer them gone.

So what causes crow’s feet and what can be done to prevent and treat them?

Causes of Crow’s Feet

Eye wrinkles can be caused by a number of things. Factors that influence our propensity to get crow’s feet include genetics, squinting, sun exposure, sleeping on one side of your face, and free radicals.

The most common cause of crow’s feet is sun exposure, both in the form of sun damage to your skin and squinting in the sun. Repeated and habitual facial expressions like squinting is a major cause of wrinkles and fine lines anywhere in the face but especially around the eyes. In addition to squinting, sun exposure over time leaves our skin dried out, making us more susceptible to the fine lines of crow’s feet.

Preventing Crow’s Feet

Your eyes are the first thing that people see, so you want to make sure you keep the skin around your eyes looking good.

Preventing wrinkles before they emerge is the most important step in skincare. Although it sounds like crow’s feet are inevitable, the good news is that you can work on preventing crow’s feet before they start. The earlier you work to prevent these fine lines from developing, the less you will have to work to treat them later.

There are some basic things that you can do to try and prevent wrinkles and even to prevent further damage to your skin. The best thing you can do to prevent crow’s feet is to protect your skin from the sun. This includes using both SPF or sun block as well as wearing sunglasses or hats to shade your eyes from the sun. Wearing sunscreen and also large sunglasses that cover the sides of your eyes will offer some protection from the sun’s damaging rays as well.

Another way to prevent crow’s feet is to sleep on your back. People who sleep on their backs tend to have fewer wrinkles than those who sleep on their side or stomach. The reason for this is because pressure of sleeping on your stomach or your side causes your skin to push into the pillow and mattress. Over time this pressure causes wrinkles on the delicate skin around your eyes.

Drinking plenty of water will also aide in keeping your skin hydrated, which is critical in preventing wrinkles. Doctors recommend eight glasses a day or more for dry climates like the climate in Scottsdale.

Crow’s Feet Treatment Options

While prevention is key, what do you do if you already have crow’s feet? There are treatments that work well in reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes.

BOTOX® is effective in treating crow’s feet. A neurotoxin, BOTOX® is used to treat a variety of medical conditions but it is often used to improve the look of wrinkles on the face. An extremely common area for BOTOX® treatment is the area around the eyes. *While results vary from patient to patient, most people see the results of BOTOX® for crow’s feet.

During the one session treatment, BOTOX® is injection into the three main areas around both of your eyes. The injection works by reducing the muscle activity and lessening the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The treatment for reducing the apparance within two weeks after treatment.**

True Med Spa is experienced in using BOTOX® to treat and lessen the appearance of crow’s feet. Learn more about BOTOX® here or request an appointment for a consultation today.