Left unchecked with Botox, lines that appear around your lips when you purse them can become deeper and even permanent.
Many smokers have them; vertical lines that appear as you purse your lips. Especially evident in the upper lip, these lines become more apparent the more time you spend puckering your lips around a cigarette.
But you do not have to be a smoker to sport the same lines. These wrinkles can also develop as a result of the natural aging process, excessive sun exposure, and can also be hereditary.
Over time, the combination of puckering and photo-aging can leave more permanent lines around your lips.
In Singapore, where although the percentage of people who smoke is one of the lowest in the world hovering around 14%, the percentage of young adults (below 30 years old) who smoke has been on the rise.
To help reduce the appearance of such wrinkles, Botox can be used.
Botulinum toxin, synonymously referred to as botox in Singapore, blocks nerves signals in the injected muscle.
This is why Botox works best for lines that are dynamic, or in other words, appear only with muscle movement.
So if wrinkles appear on your upper lip when you purse them, Botox is suitable for you as a preventive measure or treatment option.
But if you’ve reached a more advanced stage where the lines are present even without lip movement, then you will find that fillers will be the better choice of treatment. Face fillers in Singapore would definitely be a plausible skin tightening treatment for most adults in Singapore, especially if you want to keep your appearance for business purposes.
Botox for upper lip lines and smoker’s lines can be completed in a manner of 20 minutes or so, excluding consultation.
The doctor will first assess your medical history, expectations and any preexisting asymmetries on your lips. The doctor will then ask you to purse your lips as if you are blowing out a candle. This helps the doctor identify the most prominent creases on your lips for treatment.
The doctor then injects small doses of Botox, anywhere between 3 to 4 units, into your lip perioral muscles. The goal is to soften the activity of your lips, but not freeze it entirely. This is also to avoid affecting your speech or ability to close your mouth when drinking or eating.
In more severe cases, fillers are used at the same time.
Side effects are typically associated with injectables such as bruising and or swelling.
Patients who cannot tolerate any weakness in their lip muscles such as singers or wind instrument players should do well to avoid this treatment.
The experience of weakness in the lip muscles is otherwise hardly noticeable with regular activities, although patients do encounter some challenges with whistling or sucking hard on a straw.
As Botox takes time to work on the muscles, you will not see immediate results. Most patients see improvements within the next 3 days, with better results after a week or two.
Botox for upper lip lines and smoker’s lines last anywhere between 3 to 4 months, depending on the individual and brand of botulinum toxin used.
You can repeat the treatment once the effects have worn off, typically on the 3rd month after treatment.
Do remember to check out your full range of options when it comes to deciding on which skin tightening and wrinkle treatment you want. Be in Botox, face fillers or even HIFU treatments in Singapore, do be sure to consult your doctor!
[12 Jun 2021] A blog post by Dr. Wei Xiang
Dr Wei Xiang has been heavily involved in the arts throughout his life. During his formative school years, he studied fine arts under the prestigious Art Elective Programme, where he developed his artistic talent and creative expression across various media, including painting, charcoal, digital media and photography.
After graduating from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in 2014, Wei Xiang pursued postgraduate surgical training in a residency programme, where he honed his surgical skills over the years. His artistic side remained strong, and he constantly yearned to express a greater aesthetic element in his work. In 2019, he left his surgical career in search of his calling.
A fateful encounter with Dr Kelvin Chua brought Wei Xiang into the world of Aesthetic Medicine. It was in Aesthetic Medicine where Wei Xiang found his “ikigai” of sorts. Under Kelvin’s mentorship, Wei Xiang grew steadily and became adept at a wide range of aesthetic procedures including Botox, fillers, lasers, HIFU, Thermage, Ultherapy and PicoCare Laser. His keen eye for beauty, coupled with his steady hands, allows him to bring out the best in his patients.
Wei Xiang occasionally still creates artwork in his free time, when he is not spending time with his wife and daughter, or jamming and making music.
For more information, write to contact@slclinic.com.sg
To contact Dr Wei Xiang, write to weixiang@slclinic.com.sg
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