Your mouth deserves more than a swipe of lip balm as the weather changes.

At Kamloops Skin Solutions, the lower face and mouth are a common focus of rejuvenation inquiries. Its one of the first places that people notice the signs of aging. The marionette lines (from corner of mouth to jaw) and the nasolabial folds (from nose to corner of mouth) are often the main identifiable changes.

These changes are due to a combination of factors; general loss of volume and lengthening of the upper lip with decrease in thickness. The lips themselves become smaller and thinner. This loss of volume in the lip area can further accentuate the vertical lines from around the mouth (smokers lines). And as the chin recedes with age, it can make the lower lip slip back and look smaller.

Ultimately, the goal of any rejuvenation therapy is to have balance and harmony of the lips and face.

To correct and improve this area, a combination of therapies is often needed. These may include;

BOTOX

Tiny amounts of Botox can reduce the lines above the upper lip, lift the corners of the mouth, evert the upper lip and correct a smile where too much gum tissue shows above the top teeth, known as a ‘gummy smile’.

DERMAL FILLERS

To create balance, often volumization and lift of the lateral face is needed to support the midface (similar to what you achieve when you pull your cheeks toward your ears). Dermal fillers can be used to elevate and soften nasolabial folds and add volume to the lips themselves.

Injecting a bead of filler along the entire outside of the lip (like a lip liner) defines the lip and stretches out the lines. Then a little volume would be added to the body of the lip itself. Sometime this process is staged. Deeper upper lip lines can be individually lifted or filled as can the corners of the mouth.

SKIN TIGHTENING

Fine lines above the upper lip are also reduced with collagen induction and skin tightening therapies such as laser resurfacing, radiofrequency and microneedling. Kamloops Skin Solutions will soon be offering a new technology which is a combination of radiofrequency and microneedling.

RETINOL

Retinol should be a weekly staple of your anti-aging regime as it improves the growth cycle of the skin and stimulates collagen production.