As they age, many people notice vertical wrinkles above the upper lip - what to do in this situation, is it possible to correct the defect or at least make it less noticeable? The formation of wrinkles around the lips is an unpleasant phenomenon. They always show age and can change facial expression, which gives it a gloomy appearance.
Experts in the field of aesthetic cosmetology identify several types of wrinkles :
- so-called purse string – small, vertical and located around the lips;
- marionette wrinkles extending almost vertically from the corners of the lips towards the chin area;
- nasolabial folds , formations extending from the corners of the lips to the wings of the nose.
To know how to remove purse-string wrinkles above the upper lip or other types, you need to understand how and where they appear.
Why do wrinkles appear?
The first small defects in the area of the upper lip or around the mouth appear quite early, gradually their number and depth increase. Experts identify a number of reasons that provoke the appearance of wrinkles, and some of them can be influenced.
- Wrinkles are influenced by anatomical features. The orbicularis oris muscle is fixed directly in the dermis. Each muscle contraction stretches the skin; there is no fat layer and few sebaceous glands in this area. Therefore, restoration of the skin in this area is difficult with age. This creates the basis for the appearance of wrinkles. In addition, this zone depends on the level of estrogen in the body. As you age, collagen synthesis decreases, the skin loses its elasticity, and folds appear.
- Facial expressions and active articulation make a certain contribution. In people of certain professions (presenters, singers, teachers), wrinkles appear faster.
- Additionally, bad habits have an impact: pursing, biting lips, pulling them into a straw, drinking through a straw, frequent use of chewing gum and smoking. The latter affects not only the work of the lips, but also the action of nicotine on collagen fibers, skin and body cells. And knowing the reasons, it is important to determine how to get rid of wrinkles above the upper lip or in the corners of the lips.
Other reasons for the appearance of age-related changes around the lips
“The picture of age-related changes around the lips is aggravated by thin skin, weak subcutaneous fat and insufficient activity of the sebaceous glands,” notes Ph.D. Marina Chernysheva. — Not to mention ultraviolet radiation and changes in hormonal levels.
But this is not the tip of the iceberg. A visit to the dentist also plays an important role in solving problems in the aging mouth. If there is asymmetry and malocclusion, then a cosmetic solution to the problem may not be effective enough.” Therefore, if you have any suspicions, consultation with a dentist or maxillofacial surgeon is required.
“Purse-string wrinkles, nasolabial folds, marionette lines—all these changes are located at different levels and are associated with different histological structures,” continues Dr. Chernysheva. — Accordingly, treatment requires:
1. Or more aggressive and voluminous, but one-step, this is how nasolabial wrinkles are usually corrected. 2. Or therapy should be fractional, delicate, using a small amount of the drug, preferably revitalizant, so as not to cause overcorrection - this is how they work in the area of purse-string wrinkles. For a successful result in the labiomental area, you will need the consistent use of multidirectional methods (contour plastic surgery, botulinum therapy, thread methods).”
Chemical peels are rarely used as monotherapy when working with the perioral zone. “The exception is the author’s methods based on the use of modified phenol (Dr. Pukhov’s method, Philippe Depres’ peels),” explains Marina Chernysheva. “This therapy is highly effective, but requires long and complex rehabilitation.” The result of the procedure will also depend on optimally structured pre- and post-peeling care.
Fighting wrinkles at home
If you are thinking about how to remove purse-string wrinkles around the lips, you should understand that completely getting rid of them is almost impossible. Moreover, it is dangerous and can disrupt the aesthetics and functionality of this area of the face. We need facial expressions, we need to talk and eat, all this uses the muscles of the mouth. But there are ways to make wrinkles less pronounced and less noticeable.
The first thing you need is to quit smoking once and for all. This is not only a way to combat lip wrinkles, but also improve the health of the whole body. You should also avoid chewing gum and drinking through straws.
Control of the face and lip area is important. Learn not to tense your lips, purse them or curl them. The tissues are maximally relaxed in a light half-smile, which also reduces the severity of wrinkles.
Skin protection from UV radiation is necessary. They dry out and accelerate the aging of this delicate area. Therefore, you need protection with an SPF of approximately 30-50.
Properly selected cosmetics are also important. For such a delicate area, masks and creams with fat-soluble vitamins, ascorbic acid, antioxidants and retinoids, collagen, peptides, and hyaluronic acid are needed. Moreover, you need to use cosmetics from the age of 25-30, for preventive purposes. For deep wrinkles, when the process has already gone far, the effectiveness of these products is low.
Face building can help, but you need to select the exercises very carefully so as not to put excessive stress on the perioral area.
Homemade masks are useful for moisturizing and nourishing - with cucumber, yogurt, sour cream, fruits and berries. When applying masks, a light massage along the lines from the lips to the chin is useful. You should add nuts, seeds, dairy products, and vegetables to your diet.
PREPARATION FOR THE PROCEDURE, REHABILITATION, CONTRAINDICATIONS
2 weeks before the procedure and a month after, avoid visiting solariums, beaches, increased physical activity, and stop taking blood thinning medications a week. After rejuvenation, it is forbidden to sunbathe, visit baths, saunas, or use decorative cosmetics. Contraindications are common to all such interventions - acute and chronic diseases, pathological changes in the epidermis in the area, cancer, other serious pathological processes, as well as pregnancy and lactation.
Cosmetology procedures
There are many options to reduce the severity of wrinkles around the mouth, smooth the skin, and rejuvenate this area. Fillers with hyaluronic acid can help eliminate purse-string and other types of wrinkles. They help fill wrinkles and smooth the skin, but such correction has a temporary effect. The injections will need to be repeated regularly.
Biorevitalization with compositions based on hyaluronic acid can also help. The procedure moisturizes the skin, corrects fine wrinkles, and gives a rejuvenating effect.
Mesotherapy is used with compositions containing collagen, elastin, a complex of vitamins and minerals. The effect is slower, but stable, slowing down the aging process.
Botox injections help eliminate muscle spasms, remove purse-string wrinkles, and lift the corners of the mouth.
It is possible to place mesothreads; they are placed along the contour of the lips; as they dissolve, a frame is created based on collagen fibers, which help strengthen the skin and smooth out the wrinkle area.
Laser peeling using fractional modern lasers helps stimulate collagen synthesis processes, exfoliate the top layer of skin, rejuvenate, and smooth out wrinkles.
DRUGS AND DEVICES USED IN THE CENTER FOR THE PROCEDURE
Let's look at how you can remove wrinkles on the lips, what methods, devices, and drugs are used for this:
- Butolotoxin injections - drugs with a paralyzing effect are injected into the problem area and block the muscles. The skin smoothes out on its own over time, the injections last for up to a year, then the procedure is repeated.
- Mesotherapy – corrects wrinkles around the lips of average severity; with severe age-related changes, the method may be powerless. For the procedure, special nutritious meso-cocktails are used.
- Contour plastic surgery – suitable for correcting lip wrinkles and the lips themselves (shape, size, asymmetry). Involves the injection of dense biogels and fillers that fill and smooth out wrinkles.
- Peels – chemical or mechanical. For mechanical, a special attachment is used (microdermabrasion), chemical ones are carried out using special concentrated products with acids, TCA. These methods are used in courses and strictly in the cold season, when the sun is weakly active. The depth of impact may vary.
Laser resurfacing, RF lifting, lipofilling, microcurrent, thermolifting, and photothermolysis are also used to correct purse-string wrinkles. You can treat only this area or the entire face.
More invasive techniques
If the wrinkles are deep enough, there are many of them, and a more radical solution to the problem is important, more serious, invasive correction methods may be required. For them, it is necessary to carefully select a clinic and specialists; the methods have certain limitations and a rehabilitation period.
Lipofilling is the filling of wrinkles and folds of skin in a problem area with one’s own fat tissue, taken from another area and specially prepared. The technique helps eliminate wrinkles, add volume to the lips, and rejuvenate them.
Thread skin lifting helps get rid of nasolabial folds and marionette wrinkles. It is used for a comprehensive solution to facial problems.
SMAS lifting uses targeted ultrasound to tighten connective tissue and muscles, helping to reduce the deepest wrinkles around the mouth. marionette lines
Information materials on the site are posted for the purpose of information, not self-medication. Any plastic surgery is a surgical intervention. When deciding to have surgery, be sure to consult with a qualified professional.
Recommendations from cosmetologists and prevention
Prevention of aging and properly selected professional and home skin care can slow down the aging process of the skin and avoid the early appearance of deep wrinkles.
Care for the skin around the mouth must be individualized and take into account exactly your skin needs. Home care is based on the principle of “cleansing - toning - active care”, and includes cleansers, creams (thicker textures in winter, lighter textures in summer), active serums.
Another effective remedy against skin aging is professional care and microcurrent therapy from Biologique Recherche. The concept of facial care from the French brand Biologique Recherche includes more than 90 active products and concentrates to solve any skin problem.
The application of each product and other products - masks, serums, fluids and creams - is accompanied by specially developed massage techniques and microcurrent therapy, which help the products penetrate deeper into the skin, and therefore achieve more expressive results.
Wrinkles around the mouth: how to prevent them from appearing
As you know, it is better to try to prevent a problem than to eliminate its consequences. That is, it is better to take measures to prevent wrinkles than to fight them. To prevent purse-string folds from bothering you for as long as possible, you don’t need to do much.
- Prevention measures include control of facial expressions. Do not compress or purse your lips when expressing emotions.
- Avoid exposure to sunlight: use protective creams
- Take care of your skin, preventing the appearance of wrinkles. Care methods will be described in detail later in the article.
- Drinking enough water to hydrate your skin from within
Cosmetic correction or surgical help?
What should older patients prefer: cosmetic correction or plastic surgery? “The recommendations in this case depend not so much on the passport age, but on the condition of the soft tissues and bones of the skull,” explains dermatologist Marina Chernysheva. — Unfortunately, with pronounced age-related changes, removal and relocation of the musculocutaneous flap does not always lead to aesthetically harmonious results. Experienced plastic surgeons, understanding this feature, often work in tandem with cosmetologists, since their practice has shown that without improving the quality of the skin and its reduction, without filling individual wrinkles, without relaxing the hypertonicity of the muscle frame, without replenishing volume deficits, it is almost impossible to obtain a satisfactory result . And cosmetologists today know how to eliminate these problems using effective, safe, high-tech methods without lengthy rehabilitation.”
As for the correction of the upper and middle third of the face, according to our experts, it is not used specifically to solve the problem of the aging mouth. And to obtain a harmonious image, to achieve the optimal result of Full face correction, it can be used. “Although it must be said that as our knowledge of the patterns of age-related changes deepens, we are increasingly using the method of volumetric correction of the middle third of the face (replenishing the deficit in the volume of the cheek-zygomatic zone) to treat nasolabial folds,” notes Marina Chernysheva. “For additional lifting of the corners of the mouth, we use thread techniques with fixation of the threads at the reference zygomatic points.”
