Non-surgical rejuvenation
Non-surgical rejuvenation of the face can be fantastic option in patients who want to avoid plastic surgery.
The nasolabial fold or smile lines can be problematic for many people. This is a line or crease that runs from the corner of the nose to the corner of mouth. Many patients have filler placed in these lines to help soften and improve them. In some patients, if over done this can lead to an unnatural appearance.
There has been anecdotal evidence that filler placed in the cheeks can help improve the appearance of the nasolabial fold. Some believe that as volume is added to the cheek, any slack in the skin is taken up lower down in the face. Therefore, improving the appearance of the nasolabial fold.
Cheek Filler
Several scientific studies looked at this further. A study from 2014[1] split patients into three groups. Patients in group A has filler injected into the cheek only, group B has injection into the cheeks and nasolabial fold and group C has filler into the nasolabial fold only. The study showed that there was no obvious difference between the groups in the amount of improvement in the appearance of the nasolabial fold.
Another study in 2018, again should that injection of filler into the cheek had no measurable effect on the nasolabial fold.
To conclude, the current evidence shows that injection of filler into the cheeks does not improve the nasolabial fold region. Patients who wish to improve the appearance of the nasolabial fold showed consider filler placed into this region and not the cheeks.
- Goodier M, Elm K, Wallander I, Zelickson B, Schram S. A randomized comparison of the efficacy of low volume deep placement cheek injection vs. mid- to deep dermal nasolabial fold injection technique for the correction of nasolabial folds. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 2014.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jocd.12091
- Mowlds DS, Lambros V. Cheek Volumization and the Nasolabial Fold. Plastic, Reconstructive surgery 2018
