Facial Lines: Types and Treatments
In our youth-obsessed culture, the word “wrinkle” is a BAD word. Nobody wants wrinkles. They must be hidden, smoothed out, eliminated with daily routines, special products, and cosmetic procedures. But everybody gets wrinkles. There is no way to stop aging, and the best thing to do is to try and age gracefully.
If it helps you to age gracefully, why not minimize the appearance of wrinkles on your face? You don’t have to deceive yourself into believing that you are actually 21. Surely a well-groomed and gracious 40 is just as appealing, if not more so.
The face develops several kinds of wrinkles and Dr. Rai at The Cosmetic Surgical Center offers non-invasive treatments to deal with all of them.
Crow’s Feet
Crow’s feet are often the first wrinkles to appear, perhaps even in a person’s twenties. They are fine radial lines that run between the eyelids and the temples and become more visible when you smile or laugh. They form more quickly if you are in the sun a lot and squinting against bright light. Good quality sunglasses and sunblock help to prevent them, or at least postpone their appearance.
- Crow’s feet can be smoothed out with BOTOX® Cosmetic injected into the muscles on each side of the upper face. Alternatively, you could have a facial filler such as Restylane®. There are many facial fillers that use different methods to plump up the skin and Dr. Rai also offers Sculptra®, Radiesse®, and others. The effects of both BOTOX® Cosmetic and facial fillers last for several months to perhaps a year and these are non-invasive treatments that can be repeated for more long-term results.
Laugh Lines
Laugh lines are also called nasolabial folds. They run downwards between the nose and corners of the mouth. Like all facial wrinkles, they are partly caused by repeated facial expressions, in this case, laughing. But the pull of gravity helps too, in making the cheeks sag.
- Laugh lines can be quite deep and can look more like facial folds than fine lines, but they can be smoothed out by facial fillers much as crow’s feet can. Radiesse or other facial fillers may not entirely smooth them out, but they will certainly make them more shallow, and this helps to counteract the downward contours of an aging face.
Smoker’s Lines
Smoker’s Lines are fine vertical lines that develop around the lips. They are called Smoker’s Lines because if you smoke, you are repeatedly pursing your lips, which encourages these little lines to form. However, anybody can get smoker’s lines, and most people do, especially women.
- Smoker’s lines can be treated with BOTOX® Cosmetic and with lip fillers such as Captique, Hylaform, and Cosmoderm.
There are other ways of smoothing out facial wrinkles also, such as autogenous fat grafts, where your own fatty tissue is taken from another part of the body and injected into facial areas. There are also facial implants, such as chin implants and cheek implants, which give long-term results. These are cosmetic surgeries rather than non-invasive procedures.
Each face is different and Dr. Rai can examine you to determine what your best facial rejuvenation choices would be. If you would like to set up a free consultation with him, please contact our Dallas, Texas office today.
Dr. Vasdev Rai
Dr. Vasdev Rai has performed more than 25,000 cosmetic surgeries over his more than 30 years in practice as a Dallas plastic surgeon. He is a board-certified plastic surgeon who was first certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery in 1983. Learn More...
Dr. Surjit Rai
Dr. Surjit Rai was born and raised in Plano, Texas. Being the son of a plastic surgeon, Dr. Rai had the unique opportunity to see first-hand the impact a plastic surgeon can have. He knew at a young age that he would dedicate his life and academic career towards the goal of becoming a plastic surgeon. Learn More...