Nasolabial folds are the deep wrinkles that run from the sides of your nose to the corners of your mouth. Often called the “parentheses lines” because of their distinctive shape, your face makes these wrinkles naturally when you smile and they’re present even in children when they laugh or smile. (Go tickle one for confirmation!) However, when they become permanent, visible no matter what expression you’re making, it may be time to take action.
Permanent nasolabial folds are often one of the first signs of facial aging. In fact, they can show up when you’re only in your twenties! Although smiling a lot may bring them on faster, there really isn’t any way to prevent them. The major cause of nasolabial folds isn’t really smiling anyway, it’s aging.
As we age, we lose collagen and with it, skin elasticity. When skin elasticity is lost, we get sagging. Another contributor to the problem is the descent of the fat pad in the upper part of the cheek. With aging, the fat’s attachment to the underlying cheekbone loosens and weakens. As a result, the fat pad drops, which causes a hollowing in the lower eyelid area and a prominence of the nasolabial fold. In addition, we naturally lose fat from our faces with age. The fat serves a valuable purpose: its volume supports the skin and stretches it taut. Without it, the skin sags like a deflated balloon.
As volume is lost in the face, the skin sags, forming marionette lines, the lines running from the mouth to the chin, and nasolabial folds. Thankfully, Dr. Yagoda of NYC/ Manhattan can help you soften your nasolabial folds—you wouldn’t want to get rid of them entirely or that would look odd—with injectable fillers or corrective surgery.
Fillers
When used on the face, injectable fillers do what their name implies: they plump up surface depressions, furrows, and wrinkles, like the nasolabial folds. While Botox and Dysport are excellent at relaxing overactive muscles in the upper half of the face, making them the perfect choice for smoothing a wrinkled forehead or softening crow’s feet, fillers work well on deep wrinkles. That’s why fillers are an excellent choice to soften the nasolabial folds.
Fillers can also add volume to the upper cheeks to replace lost fat and lift the skin while adding height to the cheekbones. In addition to beautifying the cheeks, adding filler to this area can help alleviate some of the sagging affecting the lower portion of the face.
Of course, fillers have all sorts of other applications. They can be used to add volume to the lips and reverse the “hollow” look that age often brings to the eyes. She can even correct jowls, giving the profile a more sculpted look by adding volume to the jawline. In New York, NYC, and Manhattan Dr. Yagoda has developed many innovative non-surgical procedures, such as the Tr-EYE-umph! and non-surgical facelift that harness the unique properties of fillers to produce amazing, instant results with minimal or no downtime.
Side effects or complications are rare, although some of the more common ones are bruising, swelling, and redness at the injection sites. These effects are all temporary and generally, short-lived. You’ll be able to see immediate improvement after your in-office treatment.
As you’re probably aware, there are many different filler products on the market. From her New York City/ Manhattan office, Dr. Yagoda will take the time to patiently explain all of your alternatives and recommend the right filler for your needs. Great care goes into the planning and execution of your nonsurgical wrinkle reduction procedure, and Dr. Yagoda is both gentle and precise. Read more about fillers.
Surgical correction
Although fillers can certainly be very effective at softening nasolabial folds with little or no downtime, some patients opt for surgery instead. With fillers, the results are temporary and you’ll have to repeat the treatments to maintain your results. Over time, this can prove to be a more expensive option than surgery, which offers lasting results.
Some patients with deep nasolabial folds also have other concerns about the lower portion of their face. They might have sagging, slack, or jowly skin over cheeks and jawline. Perhaps they have slack skin on the neck as well. For many of these patients, a facelift is their best option for meaningful facial rejuvenation. Fillers in conjunction with surgery or injected in the immediate post-operative period tend to yield longer-lasting results.
Just to be clear, today’s facelift is nothing like those too-tight, obvious procedures that were once the norm. When properly performed and used in an integrated approach, a facelift is completely natural-looking, giving you a more youthful and rested appearance. Sophisticated and experienced plastic surgeons no longer just stretch the skin taut and call it a day. Instead, we aim to restore youthful tone, texture, and volume, augmenting the surgery with, among other things, skin resurfacing treatments and injectables for a far more satisfying result.
The facelift procedure itself has changed, and it’s no longer as invasive. New techniques have made the scars smaller and less conspicuous, healing and recovery more rapid and pleasant, procedures less risky, and the overall results far more rewarding than traditional facelift surgery.
The areas of the face treated by a facelift predominantly include the lower third of the face and the neck. The procedure addresses the jawline and jowls, crepey and wrinkled skin texture, and the ropey, sagging skin of the neck (the so-called “turkey gobbler neck”). A facelift can counteract the effects of aging and sun damage on the face, jawline and neck areas. Learn more about facelifts.
Unsure about the best way to treat your nasolabial folds? Dr. Yagoda will be happy to answer your questions and assess your needs during a private consultation in her NYC/Manhattan office.
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