Understanding Soft Tissue Atrophy:
As we age, natural processes lead to losing fat, collagen, and elastin in facial tissues, including the lips. This gradual loss of volume and support contributes to thinning lips, decreased fullness, and a sagging appearance around the mouth.
Soft tissue atrophy primarily affects the lips and corners of the mouth, leading to wrinkles and an unwanted "mouth frown."
Signs and Impact of Soft Tissue Atrophy:
Thinning lips: Lips lose their plumpness and projection, making them appear less youthful.
Wrinkles and sagging: Reduced volume in the lips and surrounding areas results in wrinkles and a downward shift in mouth corners.
Ingrained mouth frown: Soft tissue atrophy can create a perpetually downturned mouth, inadvertently conveying an unhappy or angry expression.
The result? An unwelcome "mouth frown" that can inadvertently convey an angry or aged expression. Fortunately, understanding soft tissue atrophy and exploring effective solutions can help rejuvenate your lips and restore a youthful appearance.
Solutions for Rejuvenating Ageing Lips:
Lip fillers: Injectable dermal fillers, such as hyaluronic acid-based products, can restore lost volume and enhance lip contour.
Collagen-stimulating treatments: Noninvasive treatments like micro needling or laser therapy stimulate collagen production, improving lip texture and firmness over time.
Another common sign of ageing around the mouth is smoker's lines or vertical lip wrinkles. These affect the skin of the top lip (aka "barcode lines") and result from the constant use of certain facial expressions, such as pursing lips, chewing, sipping from a straw or bottle, and even talking. These wrinkles can become evident from an early age, especially if we have an overactive muscle around the mouth.
Lip enhancement has gained much popularity since the '90s: people, both young and old, desire fuller, more sensual lips. The lips have always been associated with female sexuality, and women who possess large, full lips are thought to be more physically desirable.
The standard go-to for lip rejuvenation is usually the injection of dermal fillers. However, Skin Renewal takes a multi-level approach to aesthetic lip rejuvenation. We have many treatment modalities available that can be used in combination to achieve superior results. These treatments can include the following:
Advanced treatments for severely deep-seated lines and wrinkles around the mouth are also available; however, these treatments will require some downtime. These include fractional lasers such as Pearl Fractional, Pearl Fusion, CO2 Laser and Skin Renewal Fractional Fusion.
In some instances, small amounts of botulinum toxin may be used to relax, soften, and improve the appearance of barcodes or smokers' lines.
