Lip Lines
Is it time to get rid of those pesky lines around your mouth?
Lip Lines are a common concern because they are add unwanted years to your face. They are often one of the initial reasons that motivate people to seek out cosmetic treatments for the first time.
What Are Lip Lines?
Lip lines are also known as smoker’s lines, bar codes or lipstick lines. The medical term is
perioral lines.
They tend to form above the upper lip and below your lower lip. They appear when you purse your lips and over time the lines get etched and appear on the skin above your upper lip and below your lower lip.
Sometimes these lines encroach onto the red border of the lips. Women may notice that lipstick settles into these lines and makes them more obvious.
Upper lip lines come from several underlying factors that affect the area:
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Sun exposure – the upper lip is often one of the areas that is significantly affected by the sun, or more specifically, UV radiation. Chronic sun exposure causes oxidative damage to the skin, leading to wrinkling as well as other skin concerns such as skin cancers and pigmentation problems.
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Loss of volume – Loss of collagen levels as you get older. It’s responsible for giving your skin its elastic and youthful appearance. When collagen decreases, it causes the skin to become thinner and wrinkles more pronounced.
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Muscle contraction – the muscle surrounding the mouth, orbicularis oris, is responsible for closing the mouth and is activated during speech. Pursing the lips can crease vertical lines into the upper lip.
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Smoking – although upper lip lines occur in both smokers and non-smokers, smokers purse their lips more frequently and this increases wrinkling around the mouth. Toxins from cigarettes can also accelerate the aging process of the skin in general.
What are the best Lip Line treatments?
Many products claim to help treat lip lines, such as over-the-counter creams and ointments. Depending on the severity of your lines, you may want to consider another option.
Botox and dermal fillers are both great options. Below is a breakdown of each, including their differences, how they can be used, and how to choose the best one for you.
Morpheus8 is a safe and effective way of delivering fractionated radiofrequency energy into the skin itself as well as into the deeper layers below. The energy is delivered through a set of tiny (micro) needles that rapidly penetrate the skin with each pulse. Depending on the tip that is used, energy level, depth of penetration, and manner of application the device can be used to resurface the top layer of skin, promote collagen formation, tighten the skin, destroy fat cells if necessary, and even inhibit sweat glands. This leads to tighter, healthier, smoother, and more even toned skin.
Results: As most minimally invasive treatments, Morpheus should be repeated 3 to 5 times, separated by 4-6 weeks for ideal results. Patients begin to notice results after 2-4 weeks, however the maximal results are noted at 3 – months as the body forms collagen, turns over the skin, and heals itself.
The results are semi-permanent; however, do to the natural aging process the procedure will need to be repeated annually keep your lip lines at bay.
Side Effects: The downtime after Morpheus8 is very minimal, ranging from 1 to 4 days and depends on the type of treatment performed. In most cases there is a notable redness during the first 1-2 days, similar to that of a sunburn, but this fades quickly over the next few days. There may also be some mild peeling / dry skin that is more often experienced with the superficial resurfacing type treatments.
Morpheus8 - Lip Lines
Botox®
Botox®, Dysport® and Xeomin® are the neuromodulators that helps relax the muscles. By relaxing the muscles of your lips, you will not able to purse you lips as hard as you used to, thus reducing the appearance of dynamic wrinkles. The Botox® will evert your lip and make your lip look larger.
Unfortunately, Botox® will not work on static wrinkles. Unlike dynamic wrinkles, static wrinkles are caused by long term effects of dynamic wrinkles which etched the skin. You see these static etched lines around your mouth when you are not moving your mouth and your mouth is at rest.
Results: may last up to 3 months; repeated treatments keep your lip lines at bay.
Side Effects: It might be difficult to use a straw, to use a snorkel or play wind instruments.
Fillers
Dermal fillers, like Restylane®, are a great tool to use against the aging process. They are especially beneficial for reducing the appearance of static wrinkles around the mouth and lips. Once your lines are filled, you will not create the dynamic wrinkle again, thus preventing deeper etching of the skin. As a result, the filler will create more volume around the lips for a more youthful look.
Results: may last up to 12 months.
GYLTONE Brightening Eye & Lip Chemical Peel
Delicate skin around the eye and on the lips requires delicate treatment. The Enerpeel addresses mild-moderate photo-aging of eye and lip area. GOOD FOR:
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Significantly increases skin firmness around eyes and lips
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Improves the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and coarse crow’s feet
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Decreases the appearance of dark spots
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Decreases the appearance of dark circles
We recommend coming into Ithaca Medical Aesthetics for
an appointment and free consultation to determine which method is right for you. In some cases, a combination of Morpheus8, chemical peels, fillers and Botox® can be used, depending on your needs.