Mid-cheek lines are facial lines, creases, and folds that appear between the cheekbone and the soft tissue and fat positioned in our faces. The creases become more distinguishable as the soft tissue sags, and its separation from the bone is more visible. Several factors, such as ageing, lifestyle habits, and genetics, cause this skin condition.
Thankfully, you can get rid of lines on your cheeks and sagging skin through several procedures. In this article, I will talk about the treatments doctors use to eliminate noticeable mid-cheek lines.
How Do You Get Rid of Mid-Cheek Lines?
As they are a natural part of our body’s ageing process, mid-cheek lines can be addressed through cosmetic products, procedures, and treatments.
Although temporary, cosmetic products and makeup can almost eliminate skin imperfections, including these lines. Their immediate effects can effectively diminish and erase them for the day. Certain foundations and concealers work extremely well in hiding them, and it’s up to you which products are most suitable for your skin.
Various treatments are also available to reduce the signs of these lines. These professional and expensive procedures make the biggest impact on your skin. These include mini facelifts, micro-needling, and dermal fillers.
Mini facelifts produce the best results in removing the line. It targets the skin in the lower half of your facial profile, which requires small incisions to tighten the skin in the treatment area.
While it is a minimally-invasive procedure, not many people want to undergo cheek augmentation surgery. However, it is the most effective treatment and has the longest-lasting effects.
Microneedling and dermal fillers are non-invasive treatments for these lines.
Microneedling, also known as collagen induction therapy, stimulates collagen production in the treatment area to reduce wrinkles and fine lines. It uses a derma roller to produce small holes, resulting in stronger, tighter, and younger-looking skin.
Dermal fillers, such as hyaluronic acid, are directly injected into the treatment area to smoothen wrinkles and folds. They require additional treatments to maintain the results, which don’t last as long as surgical procedures.
Topical treatments can also be used to reduce these lines. Healthy, balanced, and suitable skincare routines make a lot of difference on the skin. Vitamin A, C, and E antioxidant serums and moisturisers are popular options. Retinoids also help increase collagen production in the body to fill these lines and folds.
Why Do I Have Lines on My Cheeks?
They are usually genetically determined to reduce in volume over time. The facial tissue separates from the bone, producing a prominent crease that contours this skin area. It typically appears dark and visible over time.
These cosmetic concerns can be addressed through various treatments, procedures, and preventive measures to restore the more refreshed and youthful appearance of the skin.
What Causes Mid-Cheek Wrinkles?
Aside from our body’s natural ageing process, several external factors account for a wrinkle becoming more prominent.
Collagen and elastin production in the body diminishes as we age. This makes our skin thinner, weaker, and more prone to facial folds and creases becoming more prominent. It’s worth noting, however, that these wrinkles are also caused by external factors like lifestyle habits.
Alcohol consumption, sun damage, not getting enough sleep, and smoking are powerful drivers of mid-cheek lines becoming more visible. Both activities have damageing effects on your health, and their impact on your skin is glaringly visible from the first time you participate to the last time.
Alcohol causes dehydration in your skin, which accentuates wrinkles regardless of age. Smoking also accelerates your body’s natural ageing process, leading to more folds and creases in the area.
Sleep deprivation also leads to these lines. Lack of quality sleep causes paler skin, wrinkles, and sagging skin on the lower part of your face. Sleep is essential in strengthening the skin against UV exposure and hydration.
Finally, your genetics dictates how prominent they are. If your parents have visible creases and lines on their faces, you are most likely to inherit these traits, which could manifest early in your life.
How to Diminish the Signs of the ageing Process
Depending on your aesthetic goals and cosmetic concerns, consulting your doctor for the best treatment is always the right option.
In terms of the effect on the skin, cheek augmentation surgery gives the most dramatic and effective results. This minimally-invasive facelift helps tighten the skin and smooth wrinkles. It provides the longest results among the cosmetic procedures for mid-cheek wrinkles.
Similarly, injectable dermal fillers and collagen induction therapy are non-invasive treatments that address wrinkles and folds. Results from treatments are not as long-lasting as surgery, but the impact on the skin is immediate and can be maintained through proper skin care and preventive measures.
Retinoids, vitamins A, C, and E, and other topical options can also reduce the signs of ageing or premature ageing. They help improve collagen production in the body, helping minimise visible wrinkles and creases. These treatments take longer to produce results, but they allow you to skip surgery while addressing the ageing effects on your facial skin.
Lifestyle changes, such as cutting alcohol consumption and smoking, getting quality sleep, and a healthy diet, have beneficial effects on your health and can delay your skin’s ageing process.
How to Fend off Nasolabial Folds
These procedures depend on your cosmetic concerns and what your goals are, and each has its own set of benefits and long-lasting impacts on your skin.
An injectable dermal filler, which includes cheek fillers, involves hyaluronic acid that plumps up the skin and improves nasolabial folds, effectively reducing them and resulting in immediate facial improvements with no downtime needed.
Laser skin resurfacing treatments help reduce smile and laugh lines. Chemical peeling and laser resurfacing belong in this category of cosmetic procedures, producing tighter, smoother, and younger-looking skin in the process.
Ultherapy or Thermage are skin-tightening procedures that stimulate the body’s healing process to cover and improve mid-cheek wrinkles and folds. These treatments help soften deep smile and laugh lines for a more refreshed look.
Microneedling, also known as collagen induction therapy, is a treatment that improves collagen production in the body. By creating microscopic channels on the surface of the skin, the formation of new tissues and the release of growth factors help restore the treatment area.
Fat grafting or fat transfer works similarly to a dermal filler but uses the patient’s fat to plump up the treatment area instead of other chemical substances. Fat is usually harvested from the stomach or thigh areas, goes through a purification process, and is injected into the upper cheek or directly above the nasolabial folds to reduce its appearance.
Finally, the most effective and ideal treatment is nasolabial fold surgery, a technique popular in addressing a smile line around the nose. A needle is used to make tiny punctures on the area near the nose, stimulating collagen production and healing. It helps reduce their appearance.
Cheek, Smiling Lines, and Chin Fillers
They improve the appearance of cosmetic issues and help you achieve a younger look. These substances also plump the skin in the treatment area and reduce fine folds and wrinkles.
For one, a cheek filler is an injectable dermal filler targeted at the cheekbone area. They are used to restore volume loss in the cheeks, defining the facial bone structure to enhance your entire face. These are usually hyaluronic acid-based fillers that are reversible and adjustable if the aesthetic goal is not achieved.
On the other hand, chin fillers are targeted at the chin area, allowing the doctor to do facial contouring and define the chin. These dermal fillers are ideal for improving the side profile and creating a stronger jawline. Gel-like substances are injected into the soft tissues of the jaw.
Finally, nasolabial fillers help create the perfect smile by smoothening and tightening the fine lines, wrinkles, and folds in the treatment area.
These treatments require professionals and certified aesthetic practitioners to ensure maximum safety and achieve your cosmetic goals in the best way possible.
Procedures Available to Reduce or Eliminate Mid-Cheek Lines
Here are non-surgical procedures for older patients with prominent lines on their cheeks:
Filler Injections With Hyaluronic Acid
Dermal fillers, such as cheek, chin, and nasolabial fillers, are effective in restoring volume, reducing fine lines and wrinkles, and tightening the skin in the treatment area. These injectable substances are typically made of hyaluronic acid, although some brands use other gel-like compounds to achieve the same cosmetic goals.
Laser Treatment for Sagging Skin
Laser resurfacing is a non-invasive procedure ideal for tightening the skin. It helps reduce prominent fine lines, wrinkles, and creases on the skin. While the results of this treatment can last a long time, downtime for the recovery period is needed, and the procedure may produce scarring.
Collagen Induction Therapy
Also known as micro-needling, this treatment promotes collagen production in the body to improve the treatment area. It involves microscopic punctures on the skin surface to stimulate the body’s natural healing process and restore collagen and elastin fibres. It results in firmer, tighter, and younger-looking skin.
Fat Transfer
Instead of using gel-like substances like dermal fillers, the patient’s fat is used to fill the treatment area in this procedure. It has the same plumping effect on the skin, reducing fine lines and wrinkles for smoother, more refreshed skin.
Deep plane facelift
There is a point in ageing, where the effect of gravity has resulted in the cheeks dropping down. For these patients lifting the face with a deep plane facelift will improve these facial lines. Conventional SMAS facelifts that lift towards the ear will not influence the nasolabial lines. For some patients a combination of deep plane facelifting with restoring lost volume is also of benefit. This treatment is part of my signature Vertical Face Restore 7 to help patients with facial ageing and restoring a more youthful appearance.
Visit Dr. Julian De Silva
Are you looking for an accurate wrinkle and muscles diagnosis for the best cheek treatment? I, Dr. Julian De Silva, can help. Contact us to book a consultation with me now!