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Lip Lines

At Reflections, we offer a wide variety of lip fillers, as well as additional procedures, to help you achieve the best results possible and effectively smooth lines on and around the lips.

What Are the Injectable Treatment Options for Lip Lines?

In this video, a physician injector at our New Jersey offices explains the best injections for lip lines and how to think about treating lip lines in a natural-appearing, long-lasting, cost-effective, convenient, non-surgical treatment.

Lip lines or a lack of a defined, smooth border around the lip is a key concern for most women over 50. In fact, generally, when a woman over 50 is considering lip injections, she is focused on smoothing out lines on the lips and surrounding skin as the primary goal of her treatment.

Lip Lines Injections Quick Facts

  • Minimally invasive
  • Natural-looking results
  • Improve signs of aging
  • Customizable injections to suit all patients

Today’s Best Options for Lip Lines Injections

It’s important to note that our lips start to experience lip lines as we age and usually become prominent in most women in their 50s or 60s. For those who really love drinking out of straws or water bottles, those who make a lot of smooching faces, or who have a habit of pursing the lips, smokers, and some with genetic predispositions, lip lines can become a concern much earlier in life.

Lip Fillers

Dermal fillers used to treat the lips at this point in time are exclusively hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers. Each brand of FDA-approved HA filler in the US has a unique formula with unique characteristics. For lip lines, you inject these fillers superficially, so you want something very soft and flowy (as opposed to bouncy, lifting, firm, or cohesive gel) and you also want to avoid any potential Tyndall effect that could be visible at that shallow depth. The Tyndall effect is a potential reflection or refraction property that most HA fillers have, where they reflect light back with a blue tint – it creates almost a shadow effect when it’s superficial enough to be seen through the skin.

Given those requirements for this treatment application, our favorite fillers are Restylane Silk or Belotero. If we need to provide some deeper support, we might layer other filler types deeper into the tissues below. Voluma, Refyne, and Defyne are favorites for that. If we are specifically defining the entire border of the lip, not just filling lines, we prefer a medium-stiff, gummy-feeling filler like Juvederm or Refyne. However, please note that there is no one filler that is best for any given treatment so our physician injectors will help match you with the best selections for your anatomy and goals during your consultation conversation at your first treatment appointment.

 

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Lip Threads

Smooth PDO or PLA threads can be injected into the skin to both immediately smooth out vertical lip lines, increase firmness and definition at the border, and encourage the long-term rebuilding of collagen along and around the lip. Since damage to the underlying collagen support network is the main cause of lines around the mouth, this result is incredibly natural looking and feeling. It’s also very affordable and lasts quite a long time. Unlike threads used for lifting the face, these smooth threads are comparable to filler injections in terms of discomfort and downtime (expect minor swelling that peaks 1-2 days after injection, the small potential for bruising, and very little to no discomfort after injection)

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CO2 Laser with Sculptra

One treatment combination that has predictably produced amazing results for patients with the most severe lip lines is CO2 laser with Sculptra applied topically immediately after the laser. The CO2 laser is one of the most effective treatments for deeply set-in lines, creating very dramatic results. Adding Sculptra to the freshly lasered skin boosts the collagen-building response and provides a scaffolding for quicker and more profound results. This is not a treatment that needs to be repeated often, so those looking for a low-maintenance or dramatic result will really enjoy what this procedure offers.

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Botox

Botox can help slow down and reduce the intensity of repetitive facial expressions that lead to lip lines. It cannot remove lip lines that already exist, although it does give skin a chance to heal itself during its 3-4 month duration of result. In young patients or those with very fine lines, that may be enough time. Generally, however, Botox is used in combination with one of the above reparative treatments to adjunct the result and extend the result’s longevity. Botox should never be injected around the mouth or lips by a novice. An incorrect technique or dosing could create very unpleasant results that require time (3-4 months) to resolve. Our Botox is always injected by physicians at Reflections Center.

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Compare Options For Lip Lines Injections

Treatment Cost Invasiveness Downtime How It Works
Lip Lines Filler or Lip Border Filler starts at $650 for a single syringe of filler Injection with numbing Minor swelling and small risk of bruising HA filler fills in lines and areas of lost volume
PDO Threads for Lip Lines and Lip Border $300 - $600 per session Injection with numbing Minor swelling and small risk of bruising Threads smooth and define, and dissolve over time leaving collagen in their place
Botox for Smoker's Lines $200 - $400 depending upon individual's needs High-intensity C02 Laser No swelling; small risk of bruising Botox reduces repetitive motions that create wrinkles for increased longevity compared to results from other treatments.
C02 Laser with Sculptra $1,500 - $2,000 Most intense class of laser Redness & flaking for up to 10 days Laser creates micro-channels for the body to self-repair, Sculptra facilitates collagen production.
RF Microneedling with Collagen Stimulating Injections $1,500 - $2,000 Most intense class of microneedling (similar to C02 Laser) Pinpoint bleeding, mild swelling and redness for up to 2 days RF Microneedling creates micro-channels for body to self repair, the injections speed and increase response

Patient Stories About Lip Lines Injections

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“I felt very safe coming here.”

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“Everything looks SO natural, but making these couple improvements has really increased my confidence - I feel and look so good!”

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“My results are subtle enough that it still looks like me, but a much much more refreshed version!!!”

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Lip Lines Injections Before & After Images

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Why Choose Reflections Center for Lip Lines Injections

Lip lines, and aging lips in general, are not as easy-peasy as lip fillers done on a young patient. Correcting the effects of aging is both a science and an art and it takes quite a bit of experience and training to be able to create not just natural-appearing results, but results that are cost-effective and look natural as they fade. Our team of physician injectors has the skill and expertise to do just that. We have been awarded as Diamond Level Injectors by Allergan for the past five years in a row and recipients of the Galderma Presidential Award since its creation. Galderma is the maker of Restylane, Sculptra, and other products.

At Reflections, we offer all the industry-leading brands for dermal fillers and non-surgical anti-aging treatments – one of these treatments is smoothing lip lines. Our cosmetic physicians can help you explore your options and develop a personalized treatment plan. We’ll never recommend treatments you don’t need or aren’t comfortable with, but we will be honest about what results are achievable and what you can expect from your treatment options. We have decades of experience achieving natural-looking results with fillers and helping patients feel like their best selves.

Our practice has the skilled and experienced physicians to provide nuanced and complete care

How To Find The Best Lip
Lines Doctor Near You

  • Qualifications
  • So many med spas and plastic surgery practices approach the lips with 1 solution – filler. And we all know what happens when you only have a hammer – every problem starts to look like a nail. You deserve better. You deserve for your consultation to include a conversation about your budget, your lifestyle and desires about downtime, discretion, and maintenance of the result, as well as your preferences about natural remedies, avoiding injections, etc. Our practice not only has the skilled and experienced physicians to provide that kind of nuanced and complete care, but we also have all of the best technologies and treatments required to provide that kind of individualized care.

    Treatments That Complement Lip Lines Injections

    • Lip Fillers for Added Volume

      Many people will notice they have lost lip volume by the time they have lip lines, so lip fillers to replace that volume can help create a more youthful and pleasing look to the lips overall. Especially for women over 55, this is typically needed for a complete and cohesive rejuvenation of the lip - otherwise, it's natural to have wrinkly lips by around this age.

    • Facial Proportional Balancing

      Most of the time, by the time you have deep static (visible all the time, even at rest) lines in your upper lip, you are experiencing other age-related facial changes, like flattening cheeks, jowls, and other lines around the mouth and face. Fillers and Botox can be used to rebalance and rejuvenate the face in its entirety and generally works very well for those who are in their 40's, 50's, and 60's.

    • Botox & Fillers Around the Mouth

      Most of the time, the same actions and motions that cause lip lines will cause other lines, lumps and bumps, and aging-related changes around the mouth. These are well-treated with a combination of various HA fillers and Botox for results that are very natural and decently long-lasting.

    Treatments We Don’t Recommend for
    Wrinkles on the Lips

  • Lip Plumping Pumpers, Masks, and Gloss
  • Both lip plumping suction devices and lip plumping glosses rely on irritating the lip and causing it to swell in order to create a larger smoother lip. These can also create allergic reactions, bruising, much larger-than-desired swelling, and other negative impacts. If you go this route, the masks and glosses are probably the better options, but they don’t do nearly as much for deep wrinkles and lines above the lip and within the vermillion (red portion of the lip) specifically.

  • Lip Blush Tattoos
  • Permanent lip liner and lip color tattoos have gained in popularity over the past few years, and some artists are very talented – but they cannot make textural changes, and thus don’t do that much for the actual lines. They may be a good solution, though, if the only concern that was driving you to treat your lips was the bleeding of lipsticks and lip liners.

  • Plasma Pen
  • We do not like plasma pens at all – in fact, we made a video and blog post about how dangerous these devices are, and how concerned we are that they’re being used by non-medical professionals.

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    Frequently Asked Questions About Lip Lines

    • How do I get rid of vertical lip lines?

      Our physicians at Reflections generally prefer to use thinner fillers such as Restylane, Restylane Silk, or Volbella for vertical lines in the lip. In some people who desire greater improvement, an ultrasound or laser treatment may be used in combination with filler – the most aggressive of these is the CO2 laser. Recently, biostimulatory agents like Radiesse and Sculptra have also been used to create structure in the white part of the lip. Botox is really only a preventative measure for future damage and won’t repair the damage that’s already occurred.

    • Does Botox help vertical lip lines?

      Yes, and most of the time we use Botox in combination with a thin dermal filler in the white part of the lip to give the lip more support without changing its size. Vertical lip lines may be caused by repeated pursing, sleeping on the side, and loss of some of the underlying bone or dental support. While Botox may help soften vertical lip lines, a very small amount must be used so as not to completely wipe out muscle movement. Therefore, it will need to be repeated at a shorter interval than when using Botox for the upper face.

    Dr. Verity Johnson is a board-certified Physician specializing in non-surgical treatments. She joined our practice at the end of 2021. Prior to that, she spent time perfecting her injection technique under some of the nation’s top injectors and she joins us with the skills and experience we know patients have come to expect from a Reflections’ Expert Injector.