Are Your Lips Getting Thinner?
Every year, 3-4 million Americans have cosmetic filler treatments, including treatments to help their lips look fuller, sexier, and poutier. Lip augmentation can help women and men of any age enhance their natural lips, but it’s especially popular for combating lip thinning that happens as we get older.
At Sanctuary Cosmetic Center, Soheila Rostami, MD, offers lip enhancement treatments focused on achieving a custom look based on each patient’s goals. If you’re worried about thinning lips, here’s how she can help you.
Why lips get thinner
The shape and fullness of your lips depends a lot on your genetics. Some people have lips that are naturally thinner or fuller right from the start.
But no matter what lips you were born with, as you get older, your lips are almost certain to get thinner. The main reason: a decline in collagen production.
Collagen is a type of protein that forms a firm, buoyant network for our skin, helping our lips (and the rest of our skin) look and feel plump, firm, and resilient. As we age, our body produces less and less collagen.
Collagen depletion begins when we’re still in our 20s. As we get older, the rate of collagen production continues to decline. Years of sun exposure and smoking speed up the loss of collagen.
Pucker up: Restoring fuller lips
You might not be able to avoid thinning lips as you get older, but you can help them look plumper, fuller, and more luscious. Our team offers different treatment options depending on the amount of fullness you’re looking for, along with other factors.
Lip fillers
Cosmetic fillers use special formulas to plump up lips for a full, soft effect. Dr. Rostami offers different types of fillers so she can customize each treatment based on the individual’s goals.
Juvederm® and Restylane® are both popular fillers for achieving sexy, luscious lips. These products use hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring substance that traps moisture for a soft, natural fullness.
Dr. Rostami adjusts the amount of filler that’s used, as well as the injection placements, to get the results you’re looking for. That includes treatments that follow your natural lip contours, as well as techniques to create popular looks like the keyhole lip or lollipop lip.
Cosmetic fillers can also be used to plump up the lines and folds around your mouth, accentuating your cupid’s bow and smoothing out wrinkles for a completely rejuvenated look.
Botox®
Botox is amazing for getting rid of wrinkles. Around your lips, Botox can help erase “smoker’s lines,” tiny vertical lines that appear as you get older, whether or not you’re a smoker.
The smoother effects of Botox can help your lips look fuller and younger. But Botox is also used to achieve the popular “lip flip” by relaxing tight muscles around your upper lip. As the muscles relax, your upper lip naturally elevates, creating the appearance of fullness without adding volume to the lip.
Learn more about lip enhancement
Full, sexy lips can help you look and feel more confident, more attractive, and more youthful. To find out about custom lip enhancement at our offices in McLean and Dulles, Virginia, book an appointment online or over the phone with Dr. Rostami today.