Our smiles are so important that more love stories begin with the first thing I saw was her smile than almost any other first impression. You might look in the mirror and wish your lips looked different, didn’t curve down at the corners or didn’t show so much of your gums when you smile. Those things you envy in fuller lips can be yours. Call Spa Noor in Fall River, MA to schedule a consultation to talk about a Botox lip flip.
What is Botox?
Botox is the number one requested physician-administered cosmetic treatment in the world with over six million treatments delivered each year. It is an FDA-approved purified protein derived from the toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. In this form, it’s considered a neuromodulator, meaning it can affect the way the nerve communicates with a muscle.
When injected into a certain muscle, it can prevent the nerve’s signal from reaching that muscle, which prevents the muscle from moving. It’s this quality that makes it so effective in addressing a multitude of aesthetic and medical concerns.
Medical Approval
Many of us know Botox as a purely cosmetic injectable, but its first FDA-approved use was to treat a medical condition called blepharospasm, or uncontrolled spasms of the eyelids, and strabismus, or crossed eyes. Since then, it has not only been approved for many cosmetic treatments but also continues its rise in the medical ranks because of its ability to affect muscles.
Medical Uses
Botox is currently approved to be used in therapy for over 20 medical conditions, and even more are under investigation or pending approval. Therapeutic uses of Botox include treating:
- Neck and shoulder spasms
- Chronic migraine
- Bladder wall overactivity leading to incontinence
- Post-stroke upper limb spasticity
- Excessive sweating
There are many off-label uses the medical community has great success with. Off-label means it hasn’t been approved for use in this area by the FDA but medical professionals have found it to be beneficial and safe for use. Successful off-label uses include:
- Achalasia, an issue that makes swallowing difficult
- Sialorrhea or producing too much saliva
- Cerebral palsy
- Forceful contraction of the jaw
- Forceful contraction of the vocal chords
Cosmetic Uses: The Botox Lip Flip
Botox is most well-known to the rest of us for the amazing anti-aging results it gets for people everywhere. What people may not know is that Botox can be used for more than reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It can help us achieve the smile of our dreams.
When most of us think of lip enhancement, we think of dermal fillers. Fillers are injected to add volume to either lip and can smooth out the vertical lines that come with age and can make lipstick wearing difficult. The Botox lip flip can give you a fuller-looking set of lips without adding volume.
Where dermal fillers like Juvederm add volume, the Botox lip flip highlights the volume you already have. This technique relaxes the top lip and “flips” it outward, showing the volume you have. This will also minimize the look of a gummy smile. Many clients say they didn’t even realize the amount of volume they already had until this treatment.
How Does the Lip Flip Work?
Because it juts your top lip out just a little, this treatment can give you that sought-after pouty top lip. It’s a great option for people who just want a subtle shape change and not a lot of extra volume. Your doctor will make small injections just above your top lip, into the orbicularis oris muscle. This is the muscle that encircles the entire mouth.
Botox temporarily relaxes just the part of the muscle that’s been injected over the top lip. As the muscle relaxes, it rolls upward. This gives your upper lip a voluminous and full appearance. If you have vertical lines that bother you, this may help smooth those out too.
What to Expect
During your consultation, you and your doctor will discuss your concerns with the appearance of your lips and what you’d like to be different. Your doctor will do a quick physical examination to make sure there’s enough volume in your top lip to make a Botox lip flip effective.
They will take a brief health history and want to know about any medications you’re taking or allergies you may have. Once your appointment is set, there’s no preparation for you to do.
Your Appointment
To start your appointment, a numbing cream will be applied to the treatment area to maximize your comfort during the session. Once your skin is sufficiently numb, your skincare specialist will make a series of strategic injections at the corners of your mouth and just above the cupid’s arrow of your top lip.
Your appointment will last under 30 minutes, and once it’s done, you’re free to go back to your normal routine. There is zero downtime with this treatment.
Results
Botox takes between 3-7 days to take effect. At that point, results will show. Once they do, they look and feel natural and never “frozen”. Results are different for everybody, but you can plan on seeing results for 3 to 4 months. If you love the results, talk to your doctor about the right follow-up and maintenance schedule.
Botox or Fillers for Lips?
It depends. Most dermal fillers today are known for their natural and soft results, but Botox can be even more subtle. If you haven’t had fillers yet but want to try something to fill out your lips, this is a good place to start. You might be surprised by how much volume you have hidden over your teeth.
When you smile, does your top lip seem to disappear? If so, the Botox lip flip would be a good solution. The gentle relaxing of muscle that controls your top lip when you smile will keep the edges from riding up too high. Another difference is the length of results, your Botox results will last between 3-4 months while some fillers can last over a year.
Other Cosmetic Botox Uses
The benefits of Botox don’t stop at the lips! Botox is well known for the multiple concerns it addresses.
Lines and Wrinkles
Throughout our lives, we make the same facial expressions repeatedly. When you’re angry, sad, curious, thinking or surprised your forehead and the space between your eyebrows show your emotion. Over time, we lose collagen which is the protein that gives our skin a smooth and healthy structure.
When our collagen supply depletes, those expressions we’ve always made form lines called dynamic wrinkles. Once you’ve developed these lines, even if you’re not making an expression, they can cause you to look angry or upset when you’re not. Botox works to relax the muscles underneath those wrinkles so the skin can smooth out. Ask your skincare specialist about how Botox can minimize the appearance of:
- Frown lines between the eyebrows
- Forehead wrinkles
- Bunny lines on the nose
- Crow’s feet
Hooked Nose
We won’t call it a temporary nose-job, but it can be close. After the age of 40, the tips of our noses can drop a little and start to look hooked, bringing our whole face down. If Botox is injected at the base of the nose between the nostrils, the depressor muscle that pulls it downward is relaxed and your nose will lift.
Jawline and Chin
Our jawline can become wider with time as the muscles we use to grind our teeth bulk up. If you’re noticing this, talk to your doctor about using Botox to soften your jaw muscles, which will narrow your jawline. There are secondary benefits to this treatment, too. It can make your cheeks look lifted and, if you’re a jaw clencher, the pain associated with that movement will dissipate.
Let’s not forget about the dreaded jowls. If you have loose skin on either side of your chin, a few injections can manipulate the muscles along the jawline and lift the skin to give your profile a more defined look.
Neck Lines
When you look in the mirror, do you see wrinkles that look like rings around your neck? Doctors can apply what they call a Botox necklace to temporarily erase those distracting lines. Small amounts are injected into the muscles below and above those wrinkles, relaxing them. When the muscles relax, the skin can let go of the wrinkle.
Wrinkles aren’t the only neck issue we can develop as we age. Our neck muscles can enlarge, looking like thick cords. Unfortunately, those muscles are connected to superficial muscles in your face, so your neck can be pulling your whole face down. If your doctor uses Botox on your beefed-up neck muscles, it can relax its grasp on your facial muscles, and the result can be an overall lift.
The Decollete
As women age and with help from the sun, vertical lines can develop between their breasts. Those lines can creep upwards and invade the chest area. Botox can help to soften those lines so you can feel good exposing your chest area without exposing your age.
Dermal Fillers
No article about lines, wrinkles, folds and lip enhancement would be complete without talking a little about dermal fillers. There’s a reason this line of injectables is the go-to for immediately filling in lines and folds or restoring areas of lost volume: it works.
Immediate Results
Most fillers are made of hyaluronic acid: a natural sugar our bodies produce to keep our skin dewy and hydrated. The fillers have a smooth, pliable gel that can be injected into areas where our skin has fallen into recesses and plump them up. You can walk into the office with deep nasolabial folds, for instance, and walk out 20 minutes later looking ten years younger.
The results are natural-looking because hyaluronic acid can hold 1000 times its weight in water, so the filler actually attracts moisture. Dermal fillers’ results can last between nine months and two years, depending on the type of filler used and what it’s being used to correct.
Restores Volume
Aging can cause the fat in our faces to fall, leaving areas like our cheeks, cheekbones, and temples looking bony or gaunt. Certain dermal fillers are designed to add back larger areas of volume so you can regain cheekbone prominence and better proportions throughout your face.
Lost volume in the hands can be restored to lessen the appearance of ligaments, bones, and veins that can give away your age almost as quickly as your face can.
Call for an Appointment
Because a Botox lip flip is a quick, easy and effective way to get the fuller pout and shape you’ve always wanted, there’s no reason to put it off any longer. Call Spa Noor in Fall River, MA to schedule a consultation. We customize each treatment to meet our client’s individual needs so they can always look and feel their very best. We look forward to helping you do the same!