Botox temporarily relaxes the part of the muscle over the upper lip, causing the lip to roll slightly upward so it appears more voluminous and defined. This muscle relaxation can also help smooth vertical lines around the lips.
Both upper and lower lip lines can be effectively treated. Botox is a simple office procedure taking about 10 minutes with minimal pain and downtime. Botox takes about 5 days to work and lasts up to 4 months in this area.
Lip lines are best addressed with (1) Filler, (2) Botox® or Dysport® and (3) Resurfacing. Wrinkle formation is a complex interaction of structural tissue support and muscle pull on the tissue. Filler addresses issues of structural support.
Best for lines that are not yet visible while the mouth is at rest, these injectable toxins can prevent smoker's lines from becoming etched into the skin. In the case of deep lines, Botox injections can soften their appearance but will not eliminate them completely.
While filler is commonly used to address concerns related to the lips, Botox is necessary to treat more complex issues such as vertical lips lines that result from movement as opposed to simple volume loss.
Many healthcare professionals now use injectable fillers to fill in fine lines and wrinkles and provide a fuller looking lip. A solution containing hyaluronic acid, such as Restylane, Juvederm, and a new product Volbella designed specifically for lip lines, is injected directly into the lips and the surrounding area.
Botox units for lips depends on what is being addressed. For lip lines, 6-8 units of Botox is average. For a lip flip, aka, using Botox to roll the upper lip back for a plumper appearance, uses around 8-10 units of Botox.
Botox can be a good choice in people whose lip lines are there on movement but not on rest, and so who would respond well to a very light dose of Botox. Instead, in most cases, to smooth out lines around the mouth the most popular option is dermal fillers.
The injections are placed in the area where the smokers lines are, close to the red border (vermillion border) of the lip. The injections sometimes also cause a slight eversion of the border of the lip, i.e. the lip can look slightly fuller. The muscles are injected. It takes about 30 seconds.
A good injector should know where to never inject.
A qualified, experienced injector should never inject the area near the orbital bone right above the pupil. If Botox is injected here, it can drift down toward the upper eyelid and cause an eyelid droop. This can last from weeks to even months.
Botox and Azzalure injections to the bunny lines usually last between 3 to 6 months before the next treatment is required.
While wrinkles from smoking cannot be reversed, non-surgical treatments such as anti-wrinkle injections, dermal fillers, laser resurfacing, dermabrasion, microneedling, and platelet-rich plasma therapy can help reduce their appearance.
Microneedling with PRP for Lip Lines
Microneedling uses the insertion of very fine short needles to create microscopic punctures in the skin. As the skin repairs itself, it becomes plump again, filling in the “smokers lines.” And, when combined with PRP, the results can be astounding!
Skin Care for Smoker's Lines
The best results for lip lines will be with the use of retinol or one of its more powerful cousins like tretinoin (Retin-A). This puts the skin into overdrive and increases thickness and skin quality, and it plays well with the other modalities we discuss in this post.
The effects of Botox last about 3-4 months. By comparison, lip filler may last up to a year or longer, and surgery can give you lasting results.
But No worries, Botox and Dysport can help. How Botox & Dysport Can Help Treating Bunny Lines? Botox blocks the impulses that make the facial muscles contract. An injectable expert injects it into muscles to temporarily block signals from the nervous system to prevent the appearance of bunny lines.
Botox is used to smooth wrinkles and injections can be done around the mouth to reduce the appearance of smile lines. Botulinum toxin (aka Botox) is injected in small amounts around the mouth to freeze and relax the muscles.
Hydrate with hyaluronic acid
According to dermatologist Dr. Dennis Gross, hydration hero sodium hyaluronate is one of the best ways to fill out fine lines in your lips, helping them to look plumper in an instant. “Derived from hyaluronic acid, this powerful humectant holds 1000 times its weight in water,” he explains.
Usually, we use a softer filler for the fine lines around the lips. The best examples are Belotero, Restylane Silk or Volbella.
Nausea. Redness. Temporary facial weakness or drooping. In rare instances, the botulinum toxin may spread beyond the treatment area, causing botulism-like signs and symptoms such as breathing problems, trouble swallowing, muscle weakness and slurred speech.
There's a common misconception that Botox makes you look older when it wears off. On the contrary, regular Botox treatments make you look younger even after the neurotoxin wears off.