Smile lines may sound positive, but they’re not. Most people suffer from poor self-esteem and confidence because of the smile lines and wrinkles that haunt their faces.
Fortunately, you can treat smile lines through skin tightening treatments by a skin specialist.
In this article, I will talk about how you can get rid of smile lines and treat sun damage for a more youthful appearance.
What Is a Smile Line?
Smile lines, sometimes called laugh lines, are wrinkles and creases that primarily form around the sides of your mouth. They are medically referred to as nasolabial folds, extending from both sides of your nose to your mouth’s corners, and can sometimes develop around your eyes.
These prominent, permanent creases around your nose and mouth naturally develop with age. Other external causes like smoking, dental issues, and poor sun protection can also stimulate and hasten their formation. Various treatments can reduce their appearance.ag
Why Do Smile Lines Appear?
The leading cause of smile lines is ageing. Our cheekbones slowly flatten when we age, making it easier for gravity to pull the skin in the area. It can also be attributed to lower collagen and elastin production. These substances are the primary source of our skin’s elasticity, stretchiness, and resilience, which becomes more vulnerable to crease and line formations as they diminish in our body.
Another cause of smile lines is smoking, which disrupts collagen and elastin production in our skin. Similarly, sun damage has destructive effects on collagen and elastin.
Weight changes also produce smile lines. Losing weight drastically can leave plenty of loose skin, while a sudden weight gain can affect your cheekbones. Both of these scenarios make smile lines more visible.
How Can I Treat Smile Lines?
Here are asking services offered by top skin clinics in London that treat laugh lines:
Dermal fillers
Injectable fillers are among the popular non-surgical smile line treatments. These dermal fillers are made of hyaluronic acid. As the name implies, they fill the target area to make it smoother.
While the effects of fillers are visible immediately, they are reversible if you disapprove of the changes. The effects last for several months. Juvederm and Restylane are some of the common brands used in the treatment.
For more permanent results, fillers with hyaluronic acid and calcium hydroxyapatite, and poly-L-lactic acid, are injected deeper into the facial tissues.
The treatment can cost upwards of £1,000, with results lasting 6 to 18 months. Mild headaches and swelling are their most common side effects.
Botox
Botulinum toxin, shortened as Botox, is injected using a small needle directly into the area of concern. A dermatologist (skin doctor) or plastic surgeon can perform this treatment.
Botox weakens the muscles in the treatment area, making lines, wrinkles, and creases less accentuated. The treatment works better on smile lines around the eyes. Results are noticeable after a few days.
Recovery time for this treatment is short, and you can return to your daily responsibilities in 24 hours. Headaches, redness, discolouration, or irritation are common side effects.
Botox injections can cost hundreds of pounds per treatment. The number of units used varies from one patient to another, but its effects last approximately three months. Additional treatments are necessary to maintain results.
Surgery
A surgical procedure is an alternative option for more visible, long-lasting results. A rhytidectomy, or facelift, produces more permanent results on smile lines. Both lines around your mouth and eyes are addressed by this surgery.
Often these types of lines are resistant to treatment, and a combination of skin resurfacing, Lumenis CO2 laser resurfacing being the gold standard, restoration of volume with a combination of fat transfer and very fine nano fat. For some patients a combination of regenerative medicine to improve skin quality is also of benefit. This treatment is part of my signature Vertical Face Restore 7.
However, facelifts come with careful considerations before undergoing the procedure. It is the most expensive smile line treatment, costing thousands of pounds. Plus, the recovery time can last an average of three months.
As with all surgical procedures, although rare it comes with inherent risks of infection, some scarring, and nerve damage.
Laser treatments
Laser treatments or services target the top layer of the skin cells. It aims to promote cell turnover and show the newer, less exposed lower skin cells to reduce wrinkles and smooth lines.
It has a relatively shorter recovery time of one to three weeks. Swelling and painful side effects can last a few days, with infections and scarring occurring in rare instances. Additional treatments are required in a few months or so.
Collagen induction therapy
To stimulate natural collagen production in your skin, collagen induction therapy, also called micro-needling or skin needling, is recommended.
The ageing process reduces collagen and elastin production in our skin. Skin elasticity is affected, which produces visible creases and lines in the affected area.
A roller with tiny needles is used for the treatment. These needles increase collagen in your body to fill in wrinkles.
Results of this treatment are slow and gradual, with some patients requiring three to six treatments to see the desired effects on the skin. Full results are expected in nine months. A few of its side effects are bruising, redness, and discolouration.
Over-the-counter (OTC) creams
OTC creams are the more affordable smile line treatment alternative. Retinol, an active ingredient of these creams, has been closely studied to break down wrinkle-causing free radicals in the skin. Retinol lotions can be used three times in six weeks to reduce smile lines.
Other ingredients in OTC creams that help reduce wrinkles are vitamin C, hydroxy acids, amino acids, and peptides. However, these creams work differently and don’t produce permanent results on your skin. They also take months before they show results.
Light treatment
FDA-approved products that use LED lights can stimulate the production of collagen around your eye area. The product can be used for three minutes daily.
Light therapy can also get rid of acne and other stubborn skin problems.
Everything You Need to Know About Smile Lines, According to Skincare Experts
Smile or laugh lines are natural products of ageing. They are so-called because they only appear when you laugh or smile, but they become more prominent and permanent as you age. Depending on your aesthetic goals, you can delay the process or treat existing lines and wrinkles.
There are plenty of procedures, so it’s best to consult your doctor. Surgical procedures are not necessary to treat them.
With excellent overall health and skin protection routines, you can delay the ageing process in general.
Benefits of Nasolabial Fold Filler
Immediate results
As soon as the filler is injected, you will see a plumping effect around the target area. Furthermore, the results last for several months.
Reversible
The procedure can be reversed if the desired aesthetic result is not achieved.
Side effects are minimal
You will only experience mild redness and sensitivity after getting fillers. You can go back to your daily responsibilities right away.
Increased collagen production
Laugh line fillers stimulate collagen production, which reduces wrinkles and smoothens the skin. As a non-surgical treatment, it also increases the volume around your mouth area to achieve your aesthetic goals.
Little to no pain
Nasolabial fillers and other fillers produce little to zero pain because I put topical anaesthesia to minimise the pain.
How to Smooth Away Laugh Lines Without Surgery
There are plenty of non-surgical smile line treatments available. Injectable fillers and Botox are among the leading options for people who want to reduce their laugh lines without surgery. These procedures have an immediate smoothening effect on the area of concern to have better-looking skin.
Laser skin resurfacing and dermabrasion are procedures that target the upper cells to expose the newer lower skin skills. As a result, they reduce wrinkles and fine lines to create a smoother skin surface.
What Causes Smile Lines?
It’s part of the natural process, and they become more prominent and permanent as we grow older. As the human body loses collagen with age, our skin also looks less firm and plump, showing deeper wrinkles, creases, and lines.
Our cheeks are also affected by the ageing process. It creates a flattening effect that makes our skin droop downward and deepen the folds in the process.
Additionally, non-age causes include smoking, drastic weight changes, and poor sun protection.
What Are My Treatment Options?
Injectable fillers, made of hyarulonic acid, calcium hydroxyapatite, or poly-L-lactic acid, are the most popular non-surgical options for treating smile lines.
Botox is also another non-surgical alternative that weakens the muscles in the target area to have a smoothening effect.
Laser treatments, such as skin resurfacing and dermabrasion, target the top layer of the skin to expose the lower cells, reducing the deep creases in the process.
Other alternatives include micro-needling, OTC creams, and FDA-approved light kits that increase collagen in your skin to have a filling effect on the fine lines and wrinkles.
How Can I Prevent Smile Lines?
Diet and weight management can delay them. Proper skin care and sun protection can also prevent them from appearing early. It’s imperative to note, however, that nasolabial folds are a natural part of ageing.
You also have to drink plenty of water every day to keep your skin hydrated and reduce the signs of ageing.