Crow’s feet are one of the first signs of aging. Also referred to as character lines or laugh lines, these small wrinkles appear around the eye when the skin loses collagen and hyaluronic acid. They begin to form at the outer corner of your eye around the age of 25. These early signs of aging are unavoidable. Crows feet treatment options include creams and lotions, botox, surgery, laser resurfacing, collagen injections, and anti-aging home devices.

What Causes Crow’s Feet?

These wrinkles are caused by aging, smoking, and exposure to sunlight. Smoking speeds up the aging process and causes skin damage. Sunlight makes you squint, wrinkling the skin around your eyes. These signs of aging become more visible after menopause when the production of estrogen decreases. Estrogen helps prevent aging by maintaining your skin’s elasticity. Researchers have found that women lose as much as two percent of their collagen every year after menopause.

Free radical damage is another major cause of aging. Your skin contains free radicals that can damage cellular DNA and cause wrinkles. Exposure to sunlight increases the production of free radicals. Sleeping on your side may cause crow’s feet as well.

Treatment Options

The only way to avoid these wrinkles would be to never smile, squint, or laugh. The good news is that there are lots of different products that help reduce crow’s feet. Look for creams that contain alpha hydroxy acids, retinoids, copper peptides, and antioxidants. You can also try botox. It’s one of the best treatments for crow’s feet. Laser skin surfacing is another popular method of rejuvenating facial skin and removing superficial wrinkles. Collagen injections work on short term.