When you look in the mirror and evaluate the mouth areas, you’re actually looking at several components, including laugh lines and the appearance of the lips.
What Are Smile/Laugh Lines?
The folds from the side of your nose to the side of your mouth are called the nasolabial folds or the melolabial folds, although we usually know them simply as “smile lines” or “laugh lines.”
What Causes Smile/Laugh Lines?
These folds have attachments to deeper tissues and as we age the cheeks start to descend, thanks to gravity and the reduced elasticity in our skin and soft tissues. As the cheek falls, it folds over, much like a belly over a belt; if you pull your cheek skin to the side, the fold may go away or you may still see a visible crease.
How To Prevent Smile/Laugh Lines
Unfortunately, we don’t currently have ways to prevent the deepening of the smile/laugh lines.
Topical And/Or Oral Treatments
No topical or oral treatments exist to improve the smile/laugh lines. Over-the-counter creams are ineffective and electrical facial toners used to tighten the skin do nothing to prevent the deepening of the folds.
Procedures and Other Treatments
In terms of treatment, consider that many face-lifting surgical procedures don’t address this area well, but this is an area very easily improved with filler products and one of the rather easy signs of aging to reverse.
Laugh Lines Recovery Care
We are continuously dedicated to giving our patients the attention they deserve during their period of recovery. Our laugh lines patients will have complimentary access to our fully stocked touch-up bar to restore their make-up prior to returning to work. It is important that we make your laugh lines recovery time as convenient as possible. For more information about laugh lines recovery, head over to our recovery care page.
Contact the Chicago Center for Facial Plastic Surgery about reducing laugh lines.
