“I’m worried about my nasolabial folds getting deeper and deeper…” Early care is important for such worries. We will introduce 6 measures against nasolabial folds, including the cause of nasolabial folds, self-check methods, and “ligament loosening,” which is effective for aging faces and swelling of the face.
Table of contents
- What are nasolabial folds?
- Smile line self-check
- Causes of nasolabial folds and deepening
- Characteristics of people who are prone to nasolabial folds
- 6 ways to improve and prevent nasolabial folds
- Eliminate wrinkles and skin problems with early smile line care!
What are nasolabial folds?
The nasolabial fold refers to the line that connects the nostrils and the corners of the mouth. Everyone has nasolabial folds, but how noticeable they are differs from person to person, and they generally become deeper with age.
Just the presence of nasolabial folds can greatly change the impression of the face. Take a look at the illustration below. The left is an illustration with nasolabial folds, and the right is an illustration without nasolabial folds.
Just having nasolabial folds around your mouth can make you look older. Smile lines don’t improve without doing anything, so when you start to worry about them, it’s time to start taking care of them.
Smile line self-check
We will introduce how to easily self-check how dangerous the nasolabial folds are.
Hold a mirror and try to lift your upper lip while keeping your upper teeth biting your lip. At this time, the point is whether the upper lip is lifted enough to see the gums firmly.
If the upper lip does not lift very much and the gums cannot be seen, the muscles around the mouth such as the orbicularis oris, levator lip superioris, and levator angularis may be weak.
Even if it is not noticeable now, it is recommended to take care of it early because the smile line may become deeper in the future.
Causes of nasolabial folds and deepening
There are several reasons why nasolabial folds are formed and deepened. Let’s take a closer look at the causes here.
weakening of ligaments
“Ligament” is a ligament, a thin cord-like fibrous tissue that connects facial bones to muscles, fascia, fat, and skin.
When ligaments, which are located in several places on the face and prevent sagging and wrinkles, harden due to aging or stress, or become stretched and loosened, they can no longer support the skin and fat, causing sagging and wrinkles on the skin. Let
The decline of ligaments is said to be a major cause of nasolabial folds, so it is an area that you want to take care of.
Weakness of facial muscles
Facial muscles, which are the muscles used to make facial expressions, also play a role in supporting the skin. People who do not have many opportunities to use facial muscles or who have poor facial expressions tend to loosen the muscles of the entire face as they age, making it easier for the muscles of the cheeks to sag.
If you are conscious of raising the corners of your mouth with the intention of training and exercising your facial muscles, you can prevent marionette lines (deep wrinkles that extend downward from both sides of the corners of your mouth) in addition to nasolabial folds, and improve your facial expressions. It will brighten up.
Sagging lips and cheeks due to aging
As collagen and elastin in the dermis layer of the skin decrease due to aging, the firmness is lost and sagging appears around the mouth and cheeks.
If there is sagging around the mouth and cheeks, nasolabial folds will become more noticeable, and there is a possibility that they will settle as deep wrinkles.
Rapid weight gain and loss can also cause sagging skin. Pay attention to lack of exercise and excessive eating and drinking to prevent sagging.
Decreased collagen in the dermis layer
Collagen and elastin in the dermis layer are important ingredients that keep the skin firm. When these components that support the skin decrease, sagging of the skin progresses.
In addition to aging, destruction and degeneration by UV rays are also one of the reasons for the decrease in collagen and elastin.
dry skin
Dry skin is also a cause of deepening nasolabial folds. Dryness may be a major cause for those who say that their nasolabial folds look different depending on the day, or that their nasolabial folds get deeper during the dry season.
The nasolabial fold, which is connected to the corners of the nostrils and the corners of the mouth, moves in conjunction with facial expressions. If the skin is sufficiently hydrated and moisturized, wrinkles are less likely to remain.
clenched teeth
One of the surprising causes of nasolabial folds is clenched teeth.
When you clench your teeth, you mainly use two muscles: the temporalis muscle and the masseter muscle. When these muscles become stiff, the flow of blood and lymph becomes worse, and it is possible that nasolabial folds become conspicuous, and the face becomes large due to gills and swelling.
It affects not only beauty, but also health, such as temporomandibular joint and tooth problems, neck and shoulder stiffness.
Be aware that clenching your teeth can become a habit without even realizing it.
wrong skin care
Skin care is important to keep your skin clean, but if you make a mistake in the method, it may have the opposite effect.
I wash my face many times because I’m worried about sebum, and I rub it when I’m cleansing. Excessive skin care can damage the stratum corneum and cause wrinkles.
Characteristics of people who are prone to nasolabial folds
From here, we will introduce the characteristics of people who are prone to nasolabial folds and those who are conspicuous. If there is anything that applies to you, please pay attention to it.
dry skin
Dry skin is one of the causes of worsening nasolabial folds. People with dry skin, people who are often exposed to UV rays, and people who do not take measures against UV rays tend to have dry skin, making smile lines more noticeable.
In addition, unhealthy eating habits and smoking can also cause dryness.
Often chews on one side only when eating
If you chew with only one side when eating, only one muscle will be used. As a result, the muscles on the opposite side that are not normally used weaken, causing nasolabial folds.
If you have such a biased chewing habit, it will lead not only to nasolabial folds but also to distortion of the entire face, so be careful.
Chewing is like facial muscle training that you naturally do every day. Please try to chew left and right in a balanced manner.
You often work with your head down or sleep on one side
Smile lines are exacerbated by sagging cheeks. For people who often work with their eyes down, gravity causes their cheeks to sag, leaving deep wrinkles.
Also, people who often sleep facing only one side need to be careful. To prevent sagging and wrinkles, sleep on your back as much as possible.
6 ways to improve and prevent nasolabial folds
Here are six things you can do to help improve or prevent nasolabial folds.
1: Massage to erase nasolabial folds “ligament loosening”
” Ligament loosening ” is a massage method that can be easily done by simply pushing up the cheekbone ligament with your thumb.
Loosen the ligament, which is a major cause of nasolabial folds, and improve and prevent sagging.
The method of loosening the ligaments is simple, just push diagonally with your thumb from A to B in the photo. Apply enough pressure for about 3 seconds per spot until you feel pain.
2: Skin care
Nasolabial folds are aggravated by dryness. Keep your skin moisturized to prevent it from drying out.
It is also recommended to use skin care cosmetics containing hyaluronic acid, ceramide, collagen, and wrinkle-improving creams. Eye cream is a cosmetic product that specializes in eye care, but it can also be used to care for smile lines.
It is also a good idea to perform exercises such as face massage during skin care to loosen the ligaments and facial muscles.
3: UV protection
Ultraviolet rays are the great enemy of the skin, causing not only smile lines but also various skin problems and photoaging. The damage caused by UV rays is great and can cause dryness and sagging, so be careful with UV care.
UV rays are present all year round, not just during the summer when the sun is strong. Protect your skin with UV protection all year round. Examples of UV protection include:
- apply sunscreen
- put on a hat
- use a parasol
- Avoid times when UV rays are strong when going out
- Stay in the shade when spending time outdoors
Even if you spend your time indoors, if you work in a place where the sun hits, such as by a window, apply sunscreen.
4: Take enough nutrients that make up the skin
It is important to take care of smile lines from the outside, such as skin care, UV protection, and massage, but we must not forget to take care of them from the inside as well.
Let’s approach the smile line from the inside of the body by taking the “protein” that makes up the skin. Protein is found in meat, fish, soy products, dairy products, and eggs.
For those who can’t eat much, we recommend protein that can be easily purchased at convenience stores and supermarkets. Various types of protein products such as drinks, jellies, powders, and wafers are sold.
5: Carefully moisturize before applying makeup
The nasolabial folds are dented and are prone to uneven makeup. If you moisturize your skin well before makeup and replenish moisture to your skin, you will be able to prevent the foundation from being buried in the nasolabial folds and making you stand out.
If you are particularly concerned about nasolabial folds when wearing makeup, you may want to review your makeup method.
If the foundation is applied too thickly, it will cause discomfort and crumbling. You can either apply it thinly or use face powder to make it shine.
6: Receive aesthetic medicine treatment
If you want to treat deeply engraved nasolabial folds, or if you really want to improve your nasolabial folds immediately, one method is to undergo cosmetic medical treatment.
Treatments that are performed to improve nasolabial folds include the following:
- Hyaluronic acid injection
Improving by injecting hyaluronic acid into the nasolabial fold - Laser treatment
Laser irradiation promotes collagen production and improves smile lines and sagging - HIFU
Lift up by irradiating thermal energy from ultrasonic waves to the dermis layer to the fascia layer to shrink the tissue. - Thread Lift
By inserting a special dissolvable medical thread into the face, sagging skin is improved and lifted. - Face lift by skin excision
Peel off part of the skin, pull up the fascia underneath the skin, remove the excess skin and lift up - Mailer fat removal
Improves nasolabial folds by removing subcutaneous fat above nasolabial folds
There are various symptoms and causes of nasolabial folds, such as nasolabial folds caused by facial expression wrinkles and nasolabial folds caused by sagging. When considering cosmetic medical treatment, it is important to consult a doctor at clinic counseling and receive the treatment that is right for you.
Eliminate wrinkles and skin problems with early smile line care!
Even the slightest amount of nasolabial folds can make your face look old and tired. Early measures are the key to worrisome smile lines. Before it gets worse and wrinkles are carved deeply, let’s take measures to eliminate smile lines.
In addition to measures such as massage such as ligament loosening and skin care, it is also important to remove the cause of nasolabial folds.
If you want to improve your smile lines immediately, or if you want to treat them, you can choose to undergo treatment at a beauty clinic or cosmetic dermatologist.
Let’s continue to care so that we can age beautifully.
Supervisor Profile: Masashi Komatsu (Director, Mizuho Clinic)
Director of Komatsu Kiyoshi Mizuho Clinic . After graduating from Sapporo Medical University, he entered the Plastic Surgery Department of Sapporo Medical University. He graduated from Sapporo Medical University Graduate School and obtained a doctorate in medicine. He is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Florida Moffitt National Cancer Center. After working as an assistant professor of plastic surgery at Sapporo Medical University, chief of plastic surgery at Sunagawa Municipal Hospital in Hokkaido, and joining a major plastic surgery clinic (serving as director), he opened Mizuho Clinic.
He is a plastic surgery specialist of the Japan Society of Plastic Surgery, a full member of the Japan Society of Aesthetic Surgery, and a doctor of medicine.
