Crow’s Feet – The Ultimate Guide

As we get older, the skin begins to develop signs of age on the face and neck, especially around the eyes, forehead, nasolabial groove, and neck. Our skin loses hydration and becomes dryer. The runoff of collagen and elastin in the skin induces a loose skin appearance, which may further develop deep wrinkles on the forehead. And also, you will find crow’s feet around your eyes.

Many people worry about ending up with crow’s feet because that makes them look old. In fact, there are many lifestyle choices which can decrease the chance of developing face wrinkles. We’ll also discuss how to treat crow’s feet around the eyes to help to eliminate the appearance.

What are crow’s feet?

Crow’s feet are the small lines radiating out from the external corner of your eyes. They are named crow’s feet because they literally look like tiny little feet imprinted by crows. They are actually mini wrinkles formed by the contraction of a periocular muscle when you do facial expressions. Crow’s feet are apparent in this area where the skin is very thin and vulnerable to collagen diminish. These lines begin to appear around the 30s or 40s, although it’s possible for them to develop sooner than that.

What causes crow’s feet?

If you’re curious about the cause of crow’s feet, we’re about to discuss it here. The muscle surrounding the eye is the orbicularis oculi, and when you make facial movements or expressions, such as smiling, crying, or frowning, it pulls the skin forward and tightens it. This is one of the most principle causes of crow’s feet.

In addition, with the development of significant collagen and elastin loss, the skin can develop wrinkles and lines more easily because of less firm skin support. In addition, the area where crow’s feet develop is quite delicate and tends to lose hydration much more easily than the rest of the skin. The constant dry skin can contribute to crow’s feet forming around the eyes.

Crow's Feet
Crow’s feet occur when the circular muscle around the eyes contracts. Image/Shutterstock

How to Prevent Crow’s Feet

There are numerous things you can do to prevent crow’s feet. If you want to avoid this problem, try some of these tips:

Use sunscreen and sunglasses – If you want to protect your eyes, wear sunglasses when you go outside to stop UV-rays from damaging the thin, vulnerable skin around the eyes. In addition, make sure you apply sunblock to every part of your face, including the area around your eyes. UV rays emitted from the sun are one of the risk factors leading to crow’s feet.

Follow a diet rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory propertiesAntioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents can help improving aging of the skin, which can help preventing crow’s feet and other wrinkles. Therefore, some foods in your diet including lean meat, nuts, seafood, milk, berries, grapes, eggplant, spinach, apricots, carrots, tomatoes, fatty fish, and green leafy vegetables, are beneficial for skin rejuvenation.

Get a facial treatment once a month – Although it’s expensive to do the facial treatment, that will help prevent under eye wrinkles and crow’s feet if you can manage to get a facial once a month. This will better clean your pores and hydrate your skin.

Take off your makeup every night – Going to sleep without taking off your makeup is very damaging to your skin and can lead to early aging. Your makeup clogs your pores and can dry out the surface. As a consequence, this can contribute to anti-aging features like crow’s feet around the eyes. Use a gentle, high-quality makeup remover, then cleanse your face. Dry with a towel and then apply a good night cream or moisturizer.

Stay hydrated with water – Being dehydrated is one of the worst things you go do for your skin. Consequently, make sure you drink plenty of water every day. It will keep your body and your skin sufficiently hydrated. Extra moisture can give the skin more volume, and this smooths outlines like crow’s feet and frown lines.

Avoid smoking and excess alcohol – There’s evidence that both smoking and drinking too much can lead to skin problems like crow’s feet because of speeding up aging. Accordingly, try to quit smoking and cut down on your alcohol, to prevent this from happening.

Follow a strict skin regimen every night and morning – One of the best preventative measures for signs of aging like crow’s feet is to take good care of your skin. Follow a strict regimen every morning and night using a cleanser, toner, exfoliator, and moisturizer or anti-aging cream. You’ll be much less likely to see lines early on in life.

Change your pillow – Believe it or not, your pillow can contribute to developing wrinkles and crow’s feet. You press your face up against it all night, which can lead to lines. Use a travel pillow with a ‘U’ shape if you want the perfect anti-aging pillow.

Get adequate sleep – Sleeping poorly on a regular basis definitely has a negative impact on your skin, causing early signs of aging. To keep your skin on top status, make sure you get at least 7 hours of sleep every night.

How to Treat Crow’s Feet

Suppose you’ve gone beyond prevention, and you have crow’s feet which are quite entrenched. Now you may want to know how to treat, if possible. There are a few really good methods for crow feet removal.

Chemical Peels – This is a process where a practitioner spreads a chemical solution on your face, in order to remove the top layer of skin. There are light, medium, and deep peels. This treatment can get rid of wrinkles, lines, and scars. It’s an effective crow’s feet treatment.

Botox – Crow’s feet Botox works extremely well. It’s an injection which slows down the movement of the muscles in the face, so it appears as if there are less lines and wrinkles. Unfortunately, the Botox injection cost is quite high.

Organic Creams – There are a number of natural skin care brands like Image Skin Care, Meaningful Beauty, The Ordinary Skin Care, Advanced Dermatology and Clinique Skincare which are very effective at eliminating crow’s feet wrinkles, dark circles, and bags under the eyes. They contain ingredients like peptides, collagen, Argireline, Vitamin E, retinol, and hyaluronic acid which make the skin firm and elastic, hydrate, and smooth out lines.

The cream for crow’s feet is usually rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents, which repair aging problems to the skin. Herbal creams are a helpful treatment for crow’s feet. There is even specific crow’s feet eye cream.

List of Other Brands You May Want To Consider

SEE ALSONerium Skin Care and Jeunesse Global

People Also Ask

Q: What age do you get crow’s feet?

A: Crow’s feet tend to occur around middle age (mid-20s), or perhaps a little bit early than that. It is possible to get crow’s feet at a younger age but it’s not common.

Q: Why do crow’s feet appear?

A: Mostly due to repeated facial movements over the years, such as smiling and squinting. They also develop because of the collagen and elastin loss from our skin, which makes it sag and causes wrinkles.

Q: Will Botox remove crow’s feet?

A: Yes, it certainly can. In fact, Botox works really well for removing crow’s feet. It relaxes the muscles around the eyes, making the lines much less visible.

Q: Can dehydration cause crow’s feet?

A: Yes, it can. A lack of moisture in the skin can lead to lines developing like crow’s feet. That’s why drinking a lot of water is a good prevention technique.

Q: Are crow’s feet genetic?

A: Yes, it can be. If close family members had crow’s feet at a younger age, then there’s a good chance that you’ll have the same problem.

The Final Word

When the signs of aging begin to appear on the face, many people find it distressing. Crow’s feet, in particular, are very visible and are a feature many want to prevent or eliminate.

Fortunately, there are several methods to take. If you take good care of your health by eating antioxidant-rich foods, sleep well, drink water, take good care of your sensitive skin, and other practices you may be able to prevent them from occurring. There are also other crow feet remedies available, like chemical peels, Botox, and cream for crow’s feet such as Rodan + Fields, La Mer Cream, Nerium, Instantly Ageless, and SIO Beauty.

You can get rid of crow’s feet around the eyes but do remember that in the end, they are only lines. They give you the face character and depth that matches the wisdom of your years.

Shanshan Lan, M.D.,Ph.D, CCRP

By Shanshan Lan, M.D.,Ph.D, CCRP

Shanshan Lan, is a dermatologist in China. She currently works as post-doctoral researcher in CRCHUM, University of Montreal, Canada

References

[1] https://facecliniclondon.com/crows-feet/