Dear Dr. Seckel, Hi! I HAVE LINES ON MY TOP LIP (LIPSTICK LINES), AND I DON’T SMOKE, HOW CAN ONE GET RID OF THEM, OR MAKE THEM LESS LOOKING?? THANK YOU, Judie, Winthrop, MA.
Dear Judie,
Lipstick lines or “smokers lines, the fine lines and lip wrinkles on the upper lip are very common even in people who don’t smoke.
They are caused by the pull of the muscle (called the Orbicularis Oris muscle), which is used to purse the lip to whistle or kiss.
After years of muscle activity the lines caused by the muscle become permanent and show up even at rest and lipstick tends to run into the lines, thus the name lipstick lines.
Lipstick lines or lip wrinkles can be improved by weakening the muscle with Botox®-but only small amounts can be used –if too much botox is used the lips can be weakened. When small amounts are used the only side effect in my experience is that you cannot whistle or blow your bangs off of your forehead.
Another treatment for lipstick lines or lip wrinkles is to inject a soft tissue filler such as Restylane or fat into the lip. This plumps the lip to a more youthful appearance and plumps up the lipstick lines or lip wrinkles.
To remove the permanent lip lines or lipstick lines, or lip wrinkles that show at rest when you are not pursing your lips, a laser skin rejuvenation procedure called laser resurfacing or MicroLaserPeel with an Erbium or a CO2 laser called the ActiveFX is required-laser skin rejuvenation peel leaves the lip red or pink for a few weeks but this can be covered with make up.
For more information on lip rejuvenation, fillers and non-surgical facial rejuvenation read Save Your Face or contact me.
Boston, Massachusetts