Nasolabial folds are often times referred to as “laugh lines”. Laugh lines are those deep parentheses that develop around the mouth. Although laugh lines are symbol of joy, they can also make you look older as they get deeper with age. Most everyone has a nasolabial crease and you will look unnatural should you fill it in completely. But a moderate improvement can make a big difference. Depending on how deep your laugh lines are, there are both surgical and non-surgical options to help you do just that
Non-Surgical Options to Treat Laugh Lines
Filler is one of the best options to treat laugh lines. If your laugh lines are mild to moderate, filler can be used a few different ways to treat those lines. By injecting a volumizing filler into the cheek area, such as Juvederm Voluma or Restylane Lyft, those lines tend to smooth with a little “lift” in the cheeks. Or filler can be injected directly into those lines to fill them in. Common fillers used to treat those lines directly include Juvederm Ultra, Juvederm Ultra Plus, Restylane Refyne or Defyne as well as Juvederm Vollure. These fillers last anywhere from 6 to 12 months on average. They do stimulate collagen so overtime, touch-ups are needed less frequently and can be spaced further apart.
There are also other skin care options that are really great at preventing these lines from forming or becoming deeper with time. Chemical peels, laser treatments and Hydrafacials are all really great non-invasive skin care treatments that will be beneficial for collagen production, thus helping improve fine lines and wrinkles. It’s also important to incorporate a good at-home skincare regimen. At Utah Facial Plastics, we offer SkinMedica, SkinCeuticals, SkinBetter and EltaMD skincare products. We have some “holy grail” anti-aging products including SkinBetter’s AlphaRet Overnight Cream and SkinMedica’s TNS Essential Serum, just to name a few.
Surgical Options to Treat Laugh Lines
Surgical options are going to be better “long-term” fixes for laugh lines. You may want to consider one of these surgical options once your laugh lines are more severe and filler is no longer enough to help you achieve your desired correction.
A traditional facelift or our in-office MACSlift procedure are both really great options for lifting the mid and lower face. Facelift candidates typically have moderate wrinkling, saggy jowls, loss of muscle tone in the face, and laxity in the neck and lower face. Some patients who have surgery will still have a mild to modest amount of filler added to smooth “etched” smile lines around the mouth.
Whether your laugh lines are in need of an effective skin care regimen, filler or surgery it’s never too early or too late to get ahead of those lines and creases! For more information or to schedule a complimentary consultation, call our office at (801) 776-2220 or contact us HERE.