It’s no secret, our bodies go through lots of changes as we age. As you’re logging an hour or two a day at the gym to keep your waistline slim, the areas you don’t want to wither away seem to get skinnier every year.
“Skin starts to lose its youthful volume in our mid-twenties, and our hair loses it shortly thereafter,” Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas, M.D., PH. D, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University of Medicine told Women’s Health.
If you’re a self-proclaimed sun worshipper, a fan of tanning beds, or a smoker, these lifestyle factors can accelerate volume loss in the face and lips. When you factor in the natural aging process, hormonal changes, and naturally-occurring fat and bone loss, you have a perfect recipe for thinner lips.
Fortunately, you don’t have to live with slimmer lips if you don’t want to; science has developed some remarkable ways to beef up this much-coveted asset. What’s more, lip injections are nonsurgical and involve little to no downtime.
The Skinny on Your Lips
“Do lips get thinner with age?” In a word – yes. As we age, we begin to lose bone density, which not only creates a more sunken look in the face, but it the lips are less supported as well. This bone loss causes the lips to roll inward and as a result, they appear thinner than before.
Bone loss is not the only issue – sunlight and collagen loss contribute to thinner lips as well. Our lips get their shape from collagen. As we get older, our body produces less collagen, which means our lips become less plump. Ultraviolent light from the sun also affects our lips. One of the best ways to protect lips from the sun is to wear lip balm or lipstick that contains sunscreen.
While topical products may temporarily enlarge the lips, they don’t bring lasting results. If you truly want fuller lips, your best option is to have a filler, such as Juvederm or Restylane injected directly into your lips, which can deliver dramatic results. Other treatments, such as fat transfer can also enhance the volume, while fractional laser or microneedling with RF (e.g. Fractora) can help with the wrinkles and thinning of the skin above the lip itself.
Are you looking for a plastic and cosmetic surgeon in Southern California for nonsurgical or surgical lip augmentation? Contact us today to meet with our board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Yuly Gorodisky!