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Wrinkles on our faces and sagging skin can indeed provoke us to take extreme measures in hopes of stopping the dreaded look of old.

Men and women over the age of 25 have become targets for anti-aging products; we are inundated daily with slick, beautiful ads that point out apparent flaws like crow's feet, droopy features and dry, lined, parched skin.

Poring over glossy magazines and watching television ads suggest that our faces are in serious trouble unless we use injections, surgeries, lotions, potions and other expensive modalities.

Most skin care and certainly injections that plump and paralyze are laced with lab created chemicals but that may not matter to you if when you look into the mirror and see aging. At that moment you want something done and you want it now.

Playing around with injected chemicals sounds scary to me because there is always a risk involved using them.

Take Botox * it is a toxin so buyer beware! Small injected amounts probably won't produce immediate negative reactions other than swelling, redness, and tenderness.

Prescribed for forehead creases, crow's feet and other wrinkled areas caused by repetitive movements; Botox injections must be repeated every few months to insure that the muscles remain in a weakened state. Weakness in adjacent muscles has been reported as the toxin can spread inside the body.

There can be complications if you choose Botox. According to The New York Times, the FDA warns "that it also is probing reports of illnesses in people of all ages who used the drugs for a variety of conditions, including at least one hospitalization of a woman given Botox for forehead wrinkles." Uh oh.

Knowing that all drugs have side effects, there is a potential of experiencing symptoms related to botulism if you choose this drug. Slurred speech, muscle weakness and difficulty swallowing can occur. You should know that there have been spontaneous reports of death after treatment of botulinum toxin.

Fillers that plump are also quite popular. The lists of serums offered by Big Pharma grow year after year as scientists strive to provide doctors and their patients anti-aging fixes.

Some of these serums such as Bovine Collagen (from cow!) require an allergy test; other serums are deemed to be safe without prior testing.

There are two types of fillers: Permanent and Temporary.

Temporary dermal fillers currently in use:

* Radiesse - Radiesse is made of unique calcium-based microspheres that are suspended in a water-based gel and injected into the skin

* Hyaluronic acid * Juvederm * Bacteria proteins in a gel form

* Restylane (bacteria) - a biodegradable non-animal stabilized hyaluronic acid

* Perlane (bacteria)

* Hylaform (rooster combs)

* Sculptra (synthetic) - an injectable implant that contains microparticles of poly-L-lactic acid, a synthetic polymer

* Fat

* Collagen

Temporary fillers are absorbed by the body over time, some in 2-6 months and require repeated treatments to maintain the effect. Some fillers claim the effects last up to two years.

Silicone is the most frequently used permanent filler.

If these measures seem barbaric and very unnatural you would be right. Add surgery to the mix and all of a sudden, you realize that we Americans have become less than authentic. Cutting into perfectly healthy tissue, suturing, scarring, burning it with lasers and injecting chemicals can leave a person looking bizarre.

Procedures are risky. There are no guarantees that you will like the results. There are no guarantees that your health will not be harmed. There are no guarantees that people will recognize you.

Can we strive for natural measures to maintain youthfulness? Must we continually allow others to take control of our aging process using drugs and chemicals or do you believe a healthy lifestyle includes surgeries, injections and using chemically laden products?

Eating healthy foods, drinking purified water and regular exercise seems to appeal to most people. We know that these avenues promote good health.

Thankfully, exercise can stop an aging body and isometric facial exercise can stop an aging face.

Some people want you to believe that twists, contortions and scrunches are facial exercise. Well, they are not!

Facial exercise that tightens the features requires that you anchor the muscle or muscle group using your age erasers * your thumbs and fingers. The reason this is necessary is because facial muscles attach to bone on only one end; the other end of the muscles is attached either to skin or another muscle.

Anchoring provides the necessary component of resistance. Resistance and contraction of the muscles will cause these muscles to enjoy increased circulation which in turn provides them with new life. They plump up and support your skin so that you look younger, healthier and fresher.

The most impressive asset of facial exercise is that it is a natural method that works to change the shape and contour of your facial features. You need not be subjected to anything that hurts, or require drugs via injections or by mouth, there is no down-time or time away from home or work and most of all, there are no surprises.

You can look as young as you feel when you use facial exercise for your age intervention. Imagine yourself without hooded eyes, sagging cheeks and that dreaded wattle using only specific exercise movements to keep you looking good.