How can I prevent wrinkles?

And you don't want to. A face without expression lines looks odd.

To avoid excessive aging do your best to love a balanced life, try to manage stress well, get enough rest, have a good diet, and always use sunblock.

A plastic surgery medical spa will have medical grade skin care products, lasers that can enhance youthful skin, Botox, dermal fillers and other non invasive or minimally invasive procedures that can keep one looking young and naturally beautiful.

This question is answered with the typical advice to reduce sun exposure and use a good sunscreen when in the sun. Assuming that you already know the basics and are careful with sun exposure, I would like to stress that you should obtain and use a good topical antioxidant or anti-aging prescription, which can help to reverse the damage caused UV light exposure.

Beware of over-the-counter, cosmetic products as they are typically not as research-based as prescriptive medication and are often disappointing. There are thousands of over-the-counter antioxidant and wrinkle creams, and, by and large, you should generally avoid these preparations. For one, they do not often work as claimed. Secondly, they may dry out and irritate your skin. Thirdly, cosmeceutical products (bought in department stores, pharmacies, health food stores, or in some physician offices) are often oily and can clog pores and cause acne or other skin disorders.

Often, key ingredients in these non-prescription cosmetic creams oxidize quickly and deteriorate a short time after they are applied, that is, before they can be absorbed by the skin. When looking for a good topical antioxidant or other anti-wrinkle therapy, one must make the distinction between a “cosmetic non-medical product” versus a “prescription or medicine.” Cosmeceuticals and cosmetics are not as heavily regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as are actual medicines. In short, cosmeceuticals have the same limited governmental regulation as do over-the-counter “cosmetics” – this means that the product developers are not required to have a high level of scientific proof that their particular cosmeceutical or cosmetic product actually works.

Don’t deplete your pocketbook on over the counter products; instead, ask your dermatologist for prescription-based, medical antioxidants and anti-wrinkle creams.

Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen, both as a moisturizing cream with antioxidants and in a mineral makeup base.

Botox treatment cannot only have a tremendous impact on today’s wrinkles, but it can also help prevent tomorrow’s wrinkles. 

Botox works by relaxing the facial muscles that produce wrinkles. This can work to smooth lines today and to prevent lines from becoming permanently imprinted in the skin.

Strivectin, a cream that the manufacturer claims works as well as Botox in reducing wrinkles, is the most hyped up skincare product that I advise patients to avoid.

Intentional tanning whether at the beach or in a tanning booth will expedite the aging of your skin causing it to sag and wrinkle sooner than it would otherwise and create an uneven complexion like freckling (actinic damage). Skin cancer risk also increases in a dose dependent fashion meaning the more UV exposure, the greater your lifetime risk of getting skin cancers.

Smoking is also a great way to prematurely age your skin. Yo-yo dieting should also be avoided. Both of these behaviors decrease elasticity and promote skin to sag prematurely.