Celebrate Quitting Smoking with Lip Fillers

You knew the health risks involved with smoking, but you may not have realized the habit would also take a toll on your appearance. Your skin takes on a sallow tinge and a leathery texture. Your mouth changes significantly as vertical lines and thinning give you what are commonly called smoker’s lips.

Even if you’ve quit smoking, these effects can linger as reminders of your past habit. Fortunately, Dr. Jon Rawson, Ashley Cook, WHNP-BC, and Shelly Campbell, FNP-C, at Woodlands Aesthetics Center in The Woodlands, Texas, can help. Here’s a closer look at smoker’s lips and how dermal fillers can restore your pre-smoking-days pucker.

What smoking does to your lips

Cigarettes contain more than 4,000 harmful chemicals, and they all do a number on your overall health and your skin, including your lips. 

First, one component, nicotine, shrinks and narrows your blood vessels. This significantly reduces the amount of oxygen delivered to your skin, causing it to shrivel and wrinkle. Additionally, the mix of chemicals damages your supply of collagen and elastin, two essential proteins in your skin that keep it soft, pliable, plump, and strong. 

Finally, the puckering motion your lips make every time they grip a cigarette etches lasting creases in the skin around your lips, resulting in the hallmark vertical lines of smoker’s lips. 

The deterioration stops the minute you quit smoking, but the damage that’s already been done may stay with you unless you take steps to fix it. That’s where we come in.

How dermal fillers fix smoker’s lips

Dermal fillers are approved as safe by the FDA, which is one of the reasons they’re so popular. More than 3.8 million Americans a year rely on injectable fillers to restore their supple, youthful skin. We offer the highest quality fillers at Woodlands Aesthetics Center, including Juvéderm®, Restylane®, and Bellafill®. 

Each brand is formulated with proprietary ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid and polymethylmethacrylate, to target specific skin complaints. Our experienced team of medical professionals ensures the safety and efficacy of your treatments, so you can address your smoker’s lips with peace of mind. 

We inject fillers into the lower layers of your skin. The gel-like substance adds volume under the surface, restoring the natural contours of your face and allowing the skin to smooth out. 

Not all fillers are designed for lips, so talk to our team about your desired results. We tailor your treatment to meet your needs.

We may recommend Botox® as a complementary treatment. Although it’s also an injectable, Botox works differently than fillers; it temporarily paralyzes the micro muscles in your lips to relax them and allow the creases to smooth out. 

There’s no down time required with fillers and Botox, so you can leave our office and go about your day. You’ll see initial results immediately, but expect to see continued improvement over the weeks and months beyond your treatment. The injections stimulate your natural collagen production, so your skin keeps getting healthier and younger-looking for six months or longer.

When the results begin to fade, simply come back for a refresher treatment and enjoy fuller, smoother lips for years to come. Book an appointment online, or call us at 956-625-9306.