Smile lines are the lines that appear at the side of the face when we smile. These lines can be present from childhood and like everything can be more prominent in some individuals. The lines are caused by the tendency for the skin to fold and are totally dependant on the shape of your face, the size of the muscles involved and of course how often you use these muscles to smile and laugh!
How many muscles does it take to smile?
Newspapers around the globe assure us, “Frowning takes more muscles than smiling,”
- 13 to smile, 33 to frown – The Washington Post
- 10 to smile, 100 to frown – The New York Times
- 4 to smile, 64 to frown – The Hindu
The muscle that is most responsible for causing ‘smile lines’ is known as the orbicularis oculi, a circular muscle that sits around your eye and is also used to shut your eyes tight.
When this muscle is treated with Anti Wrinkle Injections we can achieve quite remarkable results in some cases. This area when treated well can be quite difficult to spot as having been treated, even to a trained eye (for those clients who prefer to keep their treatment a secret!).
Treatment involves a few tiny injections on each side of the face and literally takes less than a minute. In terms of pain, most people describe the injections as ‘not sore at all’ or ‘just a pinch’. Usually treatments are repeated twice or three times per year.
Book a free consultation to discuss a treatment plan with our Doctor today.