When it comes to preventing and treating physical signs of aging, we often forget about our lips. However, addressing your lips by using at-home treatments or JUVÉDERM at our Tucson Skin Spectrum dermatology center can dramatically affect your appearance and give you a much more youthful look. Following are a few ways to prevent and treat unwelcome changes to your lips and the area around your mouth.

Lifestyle

Be mindful when doing daily activities like brushing your teeth or sipping on straws. When you purse your lips together tightly during these activities, you are increasing the likelihood of developing vertical lines around your mouth. Additionally, smoking can prematurely age your skin, including your lips. Even occasional smoking expedites collagen breakdown, causing formation of finelines—this is just another reason to quit smoking.

Sun Protection

Treat your lips like you do the rest of your face by using plenty of SPF and keeping your lips shaded from the sun. The sun’s UV rays are probably the most damaging source of fine lines and wrinkles. If anything, your lips are even more sensitive than the rest of the skin on your face. This means they require special care and attention. Keep lip balm or Chapstick that has at least SPF 30 with you at all times and reapply after meals.

Serums

The skin on our lips is unique to the rest of the face, as it doesn’t produce its own oil or moisture. Serums can help slow down the aging process and often give lips a healthier, smoother, and fuller appearance. We offer several topical options, such as HA5 lip plump serum by SkinMedica®, Liprebuild by ZO® Skin Health, Lip Repair by Qtica®, and EltaMD® UV lipbalm SPF31.

Fillers

As we age, the border of the lips loses its definition. Injectable treatments can subtly add structure back to the lip border. HA dermal fillers, such as Restylane Silk® and JUVÉDERM VOLBELLA® will add volume to your lips, giving them a youthful look without looking unnatural. To address and diminish lines that form around the mouth, JUVÉDERM VOLLURE® is an excellent option. To learn more about perfecting your pout, check out our previous blog post about Restylane Silk.

Lasers

Lasers can improve skin tone, help with sun damage, and minimize the appearance of fine lines around the mouth. Clear + Brilliant® is a gentle laser option. This no downtime fractional laser creates tiny, pinpoint wounds in the upper layers of the skin around the mouth to stimulate the production of healthy new tissues. After this procedure, your skin may be slightly pinkish for up to 4-6 hours, but otherwise the treatment has no major side effects, and you can return to your regular activities the same day as treatment.

We can’t stop the aging process, but we can slow down the signs of aging. The Skin Spectrum team can assist with products and procedures to bring youth and vitality to your lips.

Visit our photo gallery to see the many options we offer for achieving beautiful and youthful skin. To get a better idea of what treatments might work best for you, contact us online or give us a call at (520) 797-8885.