Although the vertical lines surrounding the mouth are difficult to correct, there are now methods available to help them look better.
Although they are not always from smoking, these lines are commonly referred to as “smoker’s lines.” As people age, they will eventually affect everyone; women and smokers simply experience them sooner.
I would want to briefly describe my approach to treating patients in my dermatology practice. Take into consideration one or more of the following treatments to lessen the look of vertical lines surrounding your mouth (click on any of the blue links to discover more about the choices).
The Most Effective Remedies For “Smoker’s Lines”
Using skin care items to make the skin more radiant.
These can be used in conjunction with your at-home skin care routine to minimize the area’s dark, wrinkled textural appearance. Prescription tretinoin, retinol (beneficial but less effective than prescription tretinoin), and AHA products (pH 4–10 and over 10% glycolic acid concentration) are the best available product options. In addition, the tretinoin and AHA treatments may encourage the production of a little amount of collagen beneath your skin, building up the region and helping to permanently reduce wrinkles.
applying a range of professional superficial skin care procedures that shave off dead skin cells and brighten it.
These procedures include chemical peels, strong pulsed light (BBL) treatments, and microdermabrasion treatments. They improve the rough, textured appearance of your perioral skin (the area around your mouth) by reducing uneven pigmentation and brightening the skin in that area. Because they reflect more light, skin that is lighter, brighter, and more evenly coloured seems smoother and less wrinkled. When properly executed, these superficial treatments may also assist to structurally reverse wrinkles by encouraging the production of a small amount of new collagen in the superficial dermis.
undergoing aesthetic procedures that address the skin’s deeper layers.
In reality, tissue volume loss and collagen thinning in the deeper layers of your skin are what cause the perioral lines (wrinkles). Treatments that target these locations are necessary to effectively reverse them.
Dermal filler injection is the simplest and fastest-acting treatment for wrinkles around the lips. A dermal filler injection helps you restore some of the volume lost in your tissue as you age. Juvederm is the filler I use the most. Long-lasting results are obtained instantly. Furthermore, Juvederm is a very soft hyaluronic acid filler that may even be biostimulatory, which means that the area where the filler is placed may spontaneously produce collagen by your body, providing you with even more long-lasting rejuvenation.
Just above the area where fillers are placed, in the mid to superficial dermis, laser resurfacing techniques help you create collagen. The most complete and optimal improvement in this deeper layer of skin is achieved when fillers are combined with laser resurfacing operations. The laser operations must be rather deep in order to significantly address perioral lines, and there will undoubtedly be downtime. Consider these ablative laser treatments to be a type of “managed harm” that helps your body mend by stimulating the production of collagen. After a laser treatment, collagen might continue to grow for up to six months. Typically, we advise a course of treatments to get the best possible collagen stimulation.
Ablative erbium laser treatments are the laser resurfacing techniques that, in my experience, produce the best outcomes with the least amount of danger. I do ProFractional laser treatments, Micro Laser Peels, and Tunable Laser Resurfacing at my office using the Sciton erbium laser. I can combine treatments for my patients in a single session because the laser is so versatile and simple to use, allowing us to accomplish a lot with each treatment.
Deeper chemical acid peels may also be an option if you want to induce a “controlled damage” that will encourage the production of collagen in the skin’s deeper layers. These procedures, such as laser resurfacing, require a large amount of recovery time and are only performed by medical professionals.
What is the most effective way to treat wrinkles and perioral lines?
All of the aforementioned applies!
I create a skin care routine for each of my patients that brightens their skin, increases collagen production, and slows down the aging process. My “go-to” items are my glycolic acid-containing Anti-aging Facial Rejuvenation Kits (or I prescribe tretinoin in place of the glycolic acid).
We perform two deeper laser resurfacing sessions, spaced roughly six weeks apart, if the patient is able to tolerate the downtime. We then inject Juvederm dermal filler six weeks after the final laser treatment. At that point, we also start a routine of expert skin care procedures with my aestheticians, which includes facials with mild chemical peels or microdermabrasion treatments. This method transforms a person’s appearance by eliminating years from it. Their complete facial appearance is enhanced, not just the perioral wrinkles.
Perioral lines from smoking are among the most difficult facial aging conditions to address. They also seem to be one of the things that individuals find most bothersome about their appearance, which is ironic since none of us look like that. I work in dermatology. Thankfully, we now have some excellent choices to help minimize the visibility of “smoker’s lines.”