The signs of aging are the result of two different processes—internal and external. To learn how to repair sun damage and wrinkles, you have to know the causes.

Internal causes are caused by your skin losing collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. Your skin thins out, loses moisture and without the collagen and elastin holding the skin up, it starts to sag. With less moisture giving it fullness, fine lines and wrinkles start to form.

Unlike internal causes of the signs of aging, there is much you can do about the external causes. Your environment and bad habits are the main contributors to the external causes. The sun and smoking are the two biggest causes of wrinkles, followed by poor diet and excess alcohol.

To minimize the damage, use a good sunscreen. Those sold in drug stores may actually contain harmful ingredients, and are not always effective. Use clinical products that have been proven to work and are safe. Apply a high quality anti-oxidant moisturizing lotion. Even more important is to stop smoking!

If it’s too late to prevent sun damage and wrinkles in your skin, don’t despair! There are things you can do:

• "Liquid face lifts." Botox stops overuse of the muscles from facial expressions by blocking nerve transmission. This is different from Elevesse, a new higher percentage HA gel with lidocaine injected to reduce moderate to severe facial lines, folds and wrinkles. Restylane and Perlane Hylauranic Acid are fillers used for temporary filling wrinkles and places where facial fat is disappearing. These are great for giving you an idea of the results you can expect before committing to a permanent filler.

• Skin peels can bring faster results. Use ingredients such as Phenol, Trichloracylic Acid, Retin A, Glycolic Acid, Salicylic Acid, and Lactic Acid.

• Skin care products with anti-oxidants smooth fine lines, slow skin aging and counter act sun damage. Look for vitamin C and L-Ascorbic Acid. Retinol or Retin A correct fine lines, uneven pigmentation, pre-cancerous lesions and slow aging.

ArteFill is a long lasting filler used with lidocaine to ease the injection. ArteFill is comprised of 20% of total volume precision-filtered smooth microspheres and 80% purified bovine collagen. Aesthetic results are visible immediately after injection.

ArteFill is the first and only non-resorbable aesthetic injectable implant to gain FDA approval.

Trust your appearance to a doctor with the latest knowledge, products and expertise to make you look naturally beautiful. Make sure to research the doctorand facility before having any procedures done.