Nasolabial line appeared out of nowhere? Help me!!
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Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:24 am

Hi everyone--
I've been a long time fan of this forum and have gleaned much advice from all of you in the past by reading through pages of all your experiences and wisdom. I now need a little bit more personal advice, as I am a little unsure of what to do.

A brief background--I am 36, have dry, eczema prone skin, but very few wrinkles and have always been mistaken for someone much younger (like many of you, I'm sure)...that is, until recently. A year ago, I moved to a new country and a new climate and my skin has kind of taken a turn for the worse. It's been quite inflamed and dry and I've gone through a few bouts of recurring eczema, which I pretty much had under control. Thankfully, I have managed to get the flares under control once again, thanks to a good derm.

What is really distressing me, however, is that about a week or two ago, I have noticed that on the left side of my face, what was once a hair-thin nasolabial wrinkle has opened up into a huge trench!! I wake up every morning and it is THERE--this deep crease on the side of my face. I have tried moisturizing it religiously...and drinking more water...but it has been stubborn. I looked at photos of myself from only three months ago and I don't have this wrinkle--it is merely, like I said, a hair-thin line. But now, it is more like a spaghetti strand width.

It is awful because it is incredibly aging and at 36, I don't think it is quite normal to have such a deep crease. (Incidentally, I don't have a wrinkle on the other side of my face at all). It goes from my nose, all the way to my mouth and curls around it like a parenthesis. I want it GONE. And I am trying to devise a regimen to make it disappear without resorting to fillers.

1) I started Tanaka massage. I like it, and it is my third day...so no great miracles yet.
2) I bought a dermaroller. It hasn't arrived yet.
3) Am doing daily LED light treatments. I had this from before for my previous skin issues (inflammation and eczema) and it really helped the health of my skin.

What else can I do? And have any of you ladies experienced this? Can a wrinkle just open up into a trench so quickly?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I hate looking at myself these days.

free skin care · Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:59 am

There's been a lot of similar topics regarding these lines suddenly, but I'll just re-write what I wrote there because I don't know where those posts are at the moment. But basically, dermarolling is a good option - just make sure you apply a good serum afterwards like vit c. Having said that, vit C serums can be very helpful in reducing appearance of wrinkles, but with what you described as a "spaghetti" width wrinkle you won't notice that much of a difference.

Another option is copper peptides. There are many different copper peptides with varying strengths, which you can find in the DIY section I believe. You'll probably find that the strongest one for spot treatments would be best suited for what you described. Just don't apply that one to your entire face.

There's also Retin-A, which is the proclaimed silver bullet for wrinkles.

With everything I listed, don't expect immediate results. These options can take up to a year to see results so you have to be patient and consistent. It is possible to use all three that I have listed but make sure you add each one at a time and slowly too. If not, you can "shock" your face into doing all sorts of weird things. HTH.

free skin care · Sat Jul 02, 2011 6:20 am

Are you a "side sleeper"? And do you sleep on the side that the naso fold got deeper?

free skin care · Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:33 am

Sleeping on 100% silk (not satin) pillow cases can help reduce the formation of wrinkles too

free skin care · Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:01 am

skinsmything might be onto something. I squish my face sleeping on my side and while right now its not bothersome, I'm pretty sure that'll be to blame for future NL lines. Not sure how the silk pillowcase thing would work for a major line such as this.

And this is just a hunch but given the great results people have gotten from Frownies, maybe look into whether there's a way to rig up a similar contraption (i.e. surgical tape) that targets NL lines. That's what I would do. Just to retrain the muscle and/or give it a break from the gravity or whatever is causing it, and allow it to heal back into shape?

Sat Jul 02, 2011 3:08 pm

I just to have the same problem. I noticed that in the mornings the lines from the nose to the mouth were deeper.

It all have to do with sleeping positions. When you sleep to one side the creases are more noticeable and the get deeper overtime.

What I do is use surgical tape. I place the surgical tape at both sides of the nasolabial folds and in between the eyebrows. It really had made a difference and in the mornings I don't have creases.

I hope this helps.

free skin care · Sat Jul 02, 2011 4:55 pm

Side sleeping or sleeping on your tummy and having your face smashed into a pillow all night will absolutely make your wrinkles worse. When I see my older clients, I can always tell whether they are side sleepers are not and what side they sleep on.

When you're young and you have the snap in your skin, these will bounce back within a few hours of getting up. When you're older, forget it. I've never used the frownies myself but my thoughts would be that even if you were a back sleeper, using frownies would keep you from making expression in your sleep which could be 8-10 hours out of your 24 hour day...that's a lot of prevention there. For women with larger chests...check out your chest area...do you have the vertical lines from the weight of your breasts smashing against each other while you sleep? That's what happens to your face!

You can train yourself to sleep on your back...I did years ago. It has really paid off!

Sat Jul 02, 2011 5:59 pm

Thank you everyone for advice and theories on what is causing the sudden depth of my nasolabial line. I do sleep on my side, but I tend to favor the side that DOESN'T have the line, so it is a bit confusing. I wonder sometimes, though, if my skin is super dehydrated right now and so it may not be bouncing back from a night of sleeping on my side.

free skin care · Sat Jul 02, 2011 6:12 pm

I hope you figure it out or that it'll just sort itself out on its own.

Just wondering, how would one use the surgical tape? I mean where would you place the tape for nl folds?

free skin care · Sat Jul 02, 2011 6:58 pm

Sleeping on my back has greatly helped the n/l issue and I also use frownies on that area...I cut them to a size that makes a strip and place one on each side. I have tried the surgical tape and other tapes that work well for others but they do not work for me. I need the stiffness of the frownies. I also reuse the frownies several times to make the use more economical. I buy the frownies that are larger in the square box.

free skin care · Sat Jul 02, 2011 7:35 pm

Babycakes....doesn't matter which side you sleep on...the other side that isn't getting smashed still has gravity working against it. Try sleeping on your back, getting the skin hydrated and see if it helps.

free skin care · Sat Jul 02, 2011 7:36 pm

Oh, so just one strip lengthwise along the fold. I thought maybe there was some anchoring and pulling back involved!

free skin care · Sat Jul 02, 2011 8:55 pm

LoriA wrote:

Oh, so just one strip lengthwise along the fold. I thought maybe there was some anchoring and pulling back involved!

I make the strip just a little larger than the n/l area and it works well to hold the area flat. Remember though that the frownie is stiff and that stiffness acts like a splint on the area to hold it flat. Other tapes didn't do that for me. I have thicker skin and that might be the reason frownies are a must for me.

Sun Jul 03, 2011 12:16 am

With regards to the surgical tape, I cut it into stripes big enough to cover that area and I stretch the skin first and then press firmly for the stripes to stay in place.

I use white surgical tape because the orange one don't work for me and is cheaper than frownies.

free skin care · Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:30 am

Face sleepers that refuse to sleep on your back- www.savemyface.com

They are goofy looking pillows, but your face is no longer smashed and you can still sleep on your side. When I tried to teach myself to sleep on my back, my knees ached so I gave up.

I had a nasolabial line that was fairly deep.. as I got older and made some lifestyle changes it went away, almost completely. Dehydration was a bit part of it for me. Are you drinking enough water for your climate? Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.

free skin care · Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:29 pm

There are many different options when it comes to fixing those irritating lines from the corners of your nose right down to the corners of your lips. However before briefly explaining those options it is important first to mention, that in order to avoid those lines getting deeper (or possibly even reversing them) you must sleep on your back, because when you think about it, we spend half of our lives awake and the other half with our face smooshed up against a pillow, if you get expression lines from making facial movements, imagine what kind of imprints sleeping with your face against a pillow is doing. Shock

1. Make sure you are using top notch skincare products. These dont have to be expensive but generally the more expensive ones you can purchase through a skincare specialist have more active ingredients. Unless you try DIY and trust me the results are excellent. A tip you could start doing now is mixing a tiny pinch of pure vitamin c powder in with your mosituriser every night.

2. Dermarolling is will indeed stimulate collagen production and along with it increase the elastin fibers in your skin therefore tightening this area up.

3. Try the Tripollar Stop gadget has been a life saver for me, it has helped to really lift everything up. Or even try a Radio Frequency treatment at a clinic (that will prove faster results) Refirme is wonderfull.

4. You could try a 12.5% tca peel lightly applied just inside the line with a very fine makeup artists brush, it will help alleviate the area.

All those are an excellent place to start but also be sure to add exfoliation into the mix as it will increase cellular turn over thus helping your skin to obtain results quicker. Idea

Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:08 pm

I take good care of my skin. I've been using retin-a for about a year. I did switch to differin about 3 months ago upon the rec of a new derm doc, but in the last 2 weeks I've begun using retin again about every other night.

I have not one wrinkle on my forehead or between my brows, just the beginnings of crows feet, but all of the sudden about 1 week ago I got this line in my nasolabial fold that won't go away--just on the left side (I sleep on my back). I'm a very expressive smiler so, I knew it would happen eventually. In the winter if I smile a lot it's there but goes away. Now, it's there when I wake up and never goes away no matter how much I don't smile--and I LOVE smiling.

I'm okay with aging gracefully, I just didn't expect it to happen so soon! Here's what I've been doing to address the problem:

washing with clarisonic
retin a every other night
skin actives let's make collagen
just did my 1st dermaroller tonight
using red light therapy 2x a day (w/the ansr beam)

As for moisturizers I use vit e or jojoba oil at night and osmotics crease-less in the morning.

I try to drink water and eat very well (only veggies, eggs, fruit, nuts, and yogurt). I swear if this isn't resolved by October (my 29th birthday and next appointment with my dermatologist) I will just bite the bullet and get a filler. Sigh. I had hoped not to go that route so soon if ever, but I've come to believe that some people are just blessed with the face structure that is less prone to nasolabial lines. I was not so lucky Sad

free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:27 pm

I've had nasiolabial folds since middle school.

I think that it has something to do with my misaligned teeth.

Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:48 pm

VeronicaM wrote:

I've had nasiolabial folds since middle school.

I think that it has something to do with my misaligned teeth.

See this is the thing--I don't really have a problematic fold. It's the line that won't go away that's buggin' me. Seems to get worse every day.

free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 8:38 pm

MichelleRme wrote:

In the winter if I smile a lot it's there but goes away. Now, it's there when I wake up and never goes away no matter how much I don't smile--and I LOVE smiling.

Hi MichelleRme, Is there a chance that you live in a place where it is dry and hot in the Summer and as you age your skin is getting drier. Maybe that is why the line has shown up now. Is there more humidity in Winter where you live so you skin is more moist? Just a thought.

free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:39 pm

Cookie,

You're back. It's been so long since I last saw you on the forums.

I'm glad to see that you're back.

Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:43 pm

I've heard this can be the result of stomach problems. Must be true in my case, as I have a history of stomach problems, and a deep fold on the right side of my face. I use Frownies and a Nuface device to take care of the problem.

free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:51 pm

VeronicaM wrote:

Cookie,

You're back. It's been so long since I last saw you on the forums.

I'm glad to see that you're back.

Thanks Veronica, I read a lot more then I post. Smile

Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:21 am

It's a good thought--I should have mentioned my climate.

I actually live in the swamps of DC so summer-winter are both pressty humid. It could be the re-introduction of retin-a into my routine. I will say that this morning it looks slightly improved after my first derma rolling experiment. I can't believe that it would work that face just because collagen isn't produced that fast and cells wouldn't turn over in a matter of hours. But I'll keep my eye on it and report back. I'll probably do 1 roll a week since it was too painful for me to press very hard.

CookieD wrote:

Hi MichelleRme, Is there a chance that you live in a place where it is dry and hot in the Summer and as you age your skin is getting drier. Maybe that is why the line has shown up now. Is there more humidity in Winter where you live so you skin is more moist? Just a thought.

free skin care · Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:07 am

MichelleRme wrote:

I take good care of my skin. I've been using retin-a for about a year. I did switch to differin about 3 months ago upon the rec of a new derm doc, but in the last 2 weeks I've begun using retin again about every other night.

I have not one wrinkle on my forehead or between my brows, just the beginnings of crows feet, but all of the sudden about 1 week ago I got this line in my nasolabial fold that won't go away--just on the left side (I sleep on my back). I'm a very expressive smiler so, I knew it would happen eventually. In the winter if I smile a lot it's there but goes away. Now, it's there when I wake up and never goes away no matter how much I don't smile--and I LOVE smiling.

I'm okay with aging gracefully, I just didn't expect it to happen so soon! Here's what I've been doing to address the problem:

washing with clarisonic
retin a every other night
skin actives let's make collagen
just did my 1st dermaroller tonight
using red light therapy 2x a day (w/the ansr beam)

As for moisturizers I use vit e or jojoba oil at night and osmotics crease-less in the morning.

I try to drink water and eat very well (only veggies, eggs, fruit, nuts, and yogurt). I swear if this isn't resolved by October (my 29th birthday and next appointment with my dermatologist) I will just bite the bullet and get a filler. Sigh. I had hoped not to go that route so soon if ever, but I've come to believe that some people are just blessed with the face structure that is less prone to nasolabial lines. I was not so lucky Sad

You should try using the Retin A every night and add a Vitamin C serum. I have seen improvement in mine just by using Retin A and Vitamin C every night. I also live in the DC area and this has been a brutal summer with humidity. I think that tends to suck moisture out of our skin so you should also be using a moisturizer with a high amount of hyaluronic acid.

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