“Smile lines,” also known as nasolabial folds (NLF), can appear as early as your 20s. These lines, creases, and folds can make you appear tired, sad, or angry, and that’s no laughing matter when it comes to looking fresh, approachable, and your absolute best. If you’re bothered by nasolabial folds, we’re here for you!
At Mabrie Facial Institute, we’ve helped thousands of patients rejuvenate their appearance by correcting their nasolabial folds with dermal filler. Whether your nasolabial folds are subtle or deep, our Injectors can help. Drawn from our many years of experience, here is everything you need to know when planning your treatment.
Nasolabial Fold Filler Before and After
You can see from these photos of our patients that nasolabial folds can affect people young and old, male or female.
Understanding Nasolabial Folds
Unsure if nasolabial fold filler is the right treatment for you? Let’s start first by identifying the nasolabial folds on your face. The image below can help when examining your face. The area highlighted in blue is your cheek. The white outline at the bottom of the cheek is the nasolabial fold. And while it’s natural for our eyes to zoom in and notice the crease itself, the nasolabial fold is actually the bottom of your cheeks.
Here’s the bottom line on the bottom of your cheeks: When the Midface “sinks,” the unsupported cheek skin slides down and forward, creating the nasolabial fold. Read on for two other reasons you may have NLF.
What Causes Nasolabial Folds?
The two main causes of age-related nasolabial folds are midface volume loss and muscle movement.
Volume Loss
Losing volume in the midface causes cheek skin to droop downward, creating a crease from the nose to the lips. Midface volume loss occurs with age and can increase over time.
Muscle Movement
You may be snarling and not even know it! When your snarl muscles are engaged, the nasolabial folds become visibly pronounced.
How To Treat Laugh Lines With Filler
Because the fold results from a loss of support in the midface, we need to restore that underlying structure with nasolabial fold filler. Midface and cheekbone volume loss causes not just nasolabial folds, but also hollows/shadows under the eyes (dark circles) and sagging cheeks. The right amount and type of filler to the midface and cheekbones restores the underlying structure to the middle third of the face, rejuvenating multiple areas and lifting and smoothing the NLF. This can be a game-changer for so many of our patients!
This is a patient who had filler for nasolabial folds. The folds are diminished with the added benefits of decreasing under-eye bags and making the cheekbones pop.
Dr. David C. Mabrie and Kimberly Rolley, PA-C, explain three ways to treat nasolabial folds.
Why Filler for Nasolabial Folds Alone Is NOT Enough
A common misconception is that you correct NLF simply by adding filler directly beneath the fold. This is how we used to do things, but we’ve learned a better way. Although single-area treatment improves the folds, it does little to help patients look younger. We can dramatically improve results by applying a more holistic approach. The support in the midface brightens and refreshes the under-eye area, restores youthful contours to the cheeks, and smooths the NLF. This is the difference between good and awesome results!
Dr. Mabrie and Kimberly discuss how NLF treatment has evolved beyond just treating the folds themselves.
Reducing Nasolabial Folds With BOTOX
You may be snarling and not even know it! Some people have more prominent NLF due to a facial muscle causing tension in the area. This muscle, responsible for elevating your lip or sneering, can be overactive. This tightness causes a deepening of the crease along the bottom of the cheek.
OK, What’s the Solution?
Believe it or not, when the fold is caused by a tight muscle, the answer is BOTOX. Our Bay Area patients with a snarl or resting “not-so-nice” face can get two quick, easy BOTOX injections (one on each side of the nose) to relax this muscle and soften their snarl and their nasolabial folds.
Dr. Mabrie and Kimberly explain how BOTOX can treat some nasolabial folds.
Choosing the Best Nasolabial Treatment for You
Choosing the best treatment for your nasolabial folds can vary based on your facial anatomy, the severity of your nasolabial folds (is it a crease or a deep fold?), age, etc. The best treatment option is the one that is created for your specific needs.
The best way to determine the most effective approach to treating your nasolabial folds is to choose an experienced Injector to guide you through the non surgical options.
How do I Schedule My Nasolabial Fold Treatment?
We invite you to call us at (415) 445-9513 or request a consultation online for an in-person evaluation with one of our highly trained Injectors. Online consultations are also available by request. Let us know what works best for you!
In the meantime, check out our nasolabial fold before and after photos and the amazing results we achieve with BOTOX and fillers. People visit us from Daly City, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as other parts of the state and the country.
The MFI Advantage
MFI focuses exclusively on injectables, and has set the bar in the art and science of fillers for more than 15 years. Dr. Mabrie, trained as a facial plastic surgeon, has dedicated thousands of hours to carefully selecting and training our talented Injectors in the most innovative, effective, and safe techniques for injectables. There is no other practice in the Bay Area with the level of experience, education, and passion for injectables you'll find at MFI.
Schedule Me
Where are you located
Hi Patty, we are located downtown San Francisco!
Hi, I’m interested in nasolabial treatment.
Hi Isabel – we would be happy to schedule a consultation/treatment for non surgical nasolabial fold treatment. To get started, please send your contact phone and email to [email protected]. One of our Scheduling Coordinators will contact you to answer any questions and find a time for you to come in! We are excited to welcome you to the practice!
How l9bg does the nadolabial fold typi ally take to complete if it involves both midface cheek filler and filler applied to the nasolabial fold?
Hi Flavia, thank you for the question! We always tell our patients that treatment takes a minimum of 2 visits! This allows for us to build the most natural looking results. It is important to note that everyone’s anatomy is different, though. For patients with more significant volume loss or deeper folds it could take an additional visit. For the most accurate assessment an in person examination would be needed. If interested in setting up a consultation, feel free to reach out to our office directly at [email protected].