Soften Lip Wrinkles Without Looking “Done”
No one wants lip wrinkles. They can add years to your face regardless of your age. Unfortunately, even if you’re not a smoker they can still appear over time. Lip wrinkles are often caused by pursing, volume loss and sun damage. In order to reduce lines around the mouth it’s important to address motion, volume and quality of skin. Fortunately there are treatments to soften lip lines and make them less apparent without changing the overall look of your lips.
Movement
Repetitive pursing can cause lip wrinkles to get etched in the skin. Whether it’s from smoking, whistling, drinking out of a straw or playing a woodwind instrument … repetitive pursing creates lines. Relaxing the circular muscle around the mouth that creates those pursing lines can reduce them over time. Botox is the treatment of choice for relaxing movement created lip lines. It typically takes one week to begin softening the lines and can last three to four months.
Volume
Over time we loose volume around the mouth. Lips become smaller and deflated as the years tick past. Restoring volume around the mouth and in the lips reduces lines and wrinkles. Adding volume means injecting hyaluronic acid fillers such as Restylane and Juvederm. This idea is scary to many people. We’ve all seen the over done pouty fish lips, but fortunately there are ways to replenish volume and have a natural looking result. Smaller volumes injected via smaller needles, using cannulas or fine tubes to inject the filler, and placement of the filler can affect the overall outcome. Often restoring the natural slope or ridges to the upper lip can be all that’s needed. Volume doesn’t have to be placed in the lip themselves, but can be placed in the area around the lips to improve their overall appearance. On average fillers last 6 months, but around the mouth they can get absorbed a little faster.
Wrinkles
Static wrinkles or wrinkles around the mouth when the face is at rest are often caused by excessive sun damage. These wrinkles can be the most stubborn. They are best treated with laser resurfacing or treatments that ablate (remove) the top layer of skin. CO2 or Erbium laser treatments can improve this type of wrinkle, but often require 10-14 days of recovery. Post treatment skin will often be pink for several weeks after resurfacing, but mineral make-up can help to mask this discoloration.
A non-invasive treatment option for those pesky static lip wrinkles is Ultherapy. Ultherapy uses focused ultrasound energy to stimulate collagen in the skin. The results of lifting and tightening can be more subtle than laser resurfacing, but the up side is – there no down time. Results are typically seen 3 months after treatment and can last up to two years.
There is no quick fix for lip wrinkles or lines around the mouth, but there are a few safe and natural looking treatment options. Often a combination of treatments is recommended for best results. To create a customized plan for you, schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our Skin Center providers.
