Many of our patients are diligent about slathering sunscreen on their faces and necks, and wearing hats and sunglasses when they’re out in the sun. Instead of “laying out” by the pool or using a tanning bed, they use sunless tanning lotion or a spray tan to protect their skin from UVA rays, and skin cancer. But, there’s one area that a lot of women neglect, and it’s the chest area.
If your chest resembles a Fourth of July display (a spray of wrinkles coming up your chest), it probably has a lot to do with sun exposure. A lot of women tanned in their 20s and didn’t think much about the effects it would have on their aging cycle.
Usually, by the time they reach their forties and a few wrinkles have erupted across their foreheads and around the corner of their eyes and lips (marionette lines), they’ve changed their tune. Sun worshiping becomes something they did in their 20s, and now it was all about finding the fountain of youth and drinking from it daily.
Sun Damage & Chest Wrinkles
Most of the time, chest wrinkles are the byproduct of sun damage unfortunately. Even if you’ve been diligent about slathering your face, ears, and neck with SPF before heading out the door, there’s a good chance that you have totally forgotten about your décolletage as most women do. And, since chest skin is thinner than the skin on the rest of the body, it’s more likely to be damaged by the sun.
Some dermatologists say that chest skin is as much as 15 times more sensitive than other skin, so that’s one reason why you have to be careful about using aggressive treatments that are not well-tolerated. Do you happen to have a large bust? If so, you may develop vertical lines faster than women with smaller chests. Is there anything that can be done to iron out chest wrinkles? As a matter of fact, you have several options.
Treating Chest Wrinkles
To better understand wrinkles, think of them as depressions in the skin. One of the goals is smooth out the wrinkles so they are even with the rest of the skin. If you’re a new patient, one option is to start with a glycolic acid chemical peel. Your skin will turn red and it may feel a lot like a sunburn, but it there’s no downtime and you can go back to work right away. The acid can reduce the wrinkles by about 20%.
Lasers deliver even more dramatic results. If you’re more serious about eliminating chest wrinkles, you’ll probably need around three treatments, which are spaced around six weeks apart from each other. Like the chemical peel, your skin will look very red and you should expect about one day of downtime, but the payoff is huge – about an 80% reduction in chest wrinkles.
Another option is fillers. We don’t normally recommend traditional hyaluronic acid fillers, such asJuvéderm and Restylane because they can leave a bumpy texture, but Belotero works much better. Once it’s injected, the colorless filler can be massaged and molded to create smooth results. Belotero injections last between six months and one year.
Next: Sun Exposure After Plastic Surgery
If you would like to explore your options for chest wrinkles, we invite you to contact our office to schedule a consultation with our Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Yuly Gorodisky.