Lines around the lips can be frustrating. Whether you’re noticing faint lines surrounding the lips, smile lines, or creases on the lip line, you could be tempted to turn to fillers or more invasive treatments. Luckily, there are more treatment options to smooth lip lines and help rejuvenate your smile!
Before choosing a lip line treatment, you should understand what’s causing your lip lines and what options are available to help you deal with them.
What Causes Wrinkles Around Your Lips?
Lines on and around the lips form for the same reasons you develop lines and wrinkles on your skin — as a natural part of aging, and a side effect of several lifestyle factors.
Skin Changes With Age
The skin changes with age. One of the most significant changes is that your skin makes less collagen and elastin with age. With fewer of these two proteins to work with, the skin naturally looks thinner, loses its resilience, and begins to sag.
Another critical factor of aging skin is that it renews itself more slowly. With less new skin being made each day, fine lines may form. You might also begin to notice an uneven skin tone and texture.
Along with the natural aging process, several lifestyle factors contribute to fine lines.
Sun Damage
Even though the look of tanned skin may make you feel confident, it’s one of the easiest ways to put your skin on the fast track toward aging. Sun exposure causes skin to dry out and damages the skin, causing fine lines and wrinkles - so be sure to apply proper SPF.
It’s easy to forget about your lips when you apply SPF, leaving them vulnerable to damaging UV rays, so look for a lip protectant that contains SPF.
Lifestyle Habits
Smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and lack of sleep can all contribute to more noticeable lines around the mouth. If you struggle with these habits, you’re more likely to begin seeing lines around your lips sooner than you would from aging alone. Consider quitting smoking and getting more sleep to dramatically enhance the appearance of your skin and improve your overall health.
Facial Muscles
The muscles responsible for your facial expressions weaken with age, just like the muscles in your body. Facial muscles give the skin on your face support, so when they shrink, your skin will naturally begin to sag and wrinkle. When the muscles around your mouth begin to lose tone, lines will form around the lips, and the mouth may take on a downturned appearance or cause wrinkles around the mouth.
Genetics
How you age and your skin behaves has much to do with your DNA. For example, if one or both of your parents have pronounced lines around their lips, there’s a good chance you will have them, too. Luckily, there are still several treatment options to help smooth lip lines.
How To Reduce the Appearance of Lip Lines
If you’re dealing with lip lines, there are a few options to help diminish their appearance. Here’s a closer look.
Injections
One of the most popular ways to deal with lip lines is by getting dermal fillers in and around the lips. During this minimally invasive procedure, your lips and the surrounding skin will be numbed, and a provider will inject your lips with a filler (usually hyaluronic acid) to “fill out” the lines and make your lips appear fuller.
Injections might last about three months and may come with risks of bruising and pain for a few days after your treatment.
In addition to some minor discomfort or bruising, lip injections - often called ‘lip fillers’ - may produce a more swollen-looking lip than you’d like. While we all would love a plump, supple pout, be sure to seek out a reputable, licensed provider who will help you find the dosage that is right for you to avoid the dreaded ‘duck face’ look.
Laser Treatment
Laser resurfacing is another popular way to treat the skin around the lips. This procedure is slightly more invasive and costly, and it involves using lasers to remove damaged skin around the mouth. Just like when you get injections, you should always go to a licensed provider for laser treatments to ensure the highest level of safety and the best results.
You may experience scabbing and bruising after your laser procedure but should notice results within a few weeks. One important consideration when getting laser procedures is avoiding direct sunlight after your procedure to reduce damage to the treatment area. In addition, you should be aware that while laser resurfacing treatments can help smooth lip lines that are already present, they will not prevent new lines from appearing on the skin - so be sure to use adequate lip protection, hydrate, and follow a proper skincare regimen to preserve your results.
Microcurrent
Microcurrent therapy is a non-invasive way to deal with lines around the lips. Microcurrent therapy uses gentle electrical currents to stimulate the skin and underlying muscles to help tackle the causes of lip lines where they start and prevent new lip lines from forming!
NuFACE® offers FDA-cleared Microcurrent Devices that can be used all over the face and neck or target smaller treatment zones, like around the lips. It’s easy to get started with microcurrent therapy at home.
Luscious Lips, The NuFACE Way
To treat deep wrinkles and fine lines around the lips, the NuFACE TRINITY+® and Effective Lip & Eye Attachment. This clinically proven device features 3-Depth Technology to target different layers from the skin’s surface to the facial muscle for instant and long-term results.
The NuFACE TRINITY+® and Effective Lip & Eye Attachment delivers microcurrent to delicate areas like the skin around the lips and eyes. With consistent use, in as little as five minutes per day, users have noticed improvements in their skin without a significant time commitment or high cost.
How To Address the Look of Lip Wrinkles With NuFACE
Attach the Effective Lip & Eye Attachment to your NuFACE TRINITY+ device. Then, follow these simple steps for a Targeted Eye & Lip Treatment:
- PREP. Cleanse your skin and lip area with NuFACE Prep-N-Glow® Exfoliating & Hydrating Facial Wipes to remove excess oil, makeup, and dead skin cells and allow microcurrent flow.
- HYDRATE. Spritz skin with Supercharged IonPlex® Facial Mist to keep skin deeply hydrated and prepare it for microcurrent treatment.
- BOOST. Using your favorite Super Booster, apply a small amount to your fingertips and massage it into your skin, allowing it to absorb completely.
- ACTIVATE. Using the Clean Sweep Brush and your preferred Microcurrent Activator, apply a mask-like layer to the skin area you’ll be treating. Since you are working around your lips, apply serum to the skin immediately around your lips.
- SMOOTH. Using your NuFACE TRINITY+ device with the Effective Lip & Eye Attachment, perform glides and holds around your lips, performing holds on areas of concern.
For even more instant line-smoothing power, follow up with NuFACE FIX®.
Adding NuFACE FIX Treatment
After you’ve finished your NuFACE TRINITY+ treatment, you can focus even more concentrated microcurrent treatment on your lip area with NuFACE FIX to help feather away lip lines and enhance lip volume.
- PREP. Ensure your lips and the surrounding skin are clean and free from oil, lip balm, and makeup.
- ACTIVATE. Apply a mask-like layer of NuFACE FIX Serum around the lip area.
- LIFT. Turn your NuFACE FIX device on, and begin to feather away lines using a gentle, circular motion.
You can treat your lip area for up to three minutes or until your device automatically turns off. Finish by tapping in any excess serum and following up with your favorite moisturizer and lip balm.
Line-Free Lips, No Needles Required
NuFACE provides a non-invasive, at-home solution for dealing with aging skin around the mouth. With consistent use and in about five minutes per day, lip lines can be a thing of the past!
Sources:
Age-associated changes in human epidermal cell renewal | PubMed.gov
[Muscular aging and its involvement in facial aging: the Face Recurve concept] | PubMed.gov
