The line from nose to mouth used to appear only when you smiled. Its depth starts at the cheek above.
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Smile lines, or nasolabial folds, are softened with hyaluronic acid gel, most often Restylane® Refyne, placed along the fold. Most plans use 1 to 2 syringes. Correction shows the same day and typically lasts 6 to 12 months. Part of the volume usually belongs at the cheek above it.
Smile lines, or nasolabial folds, run from nose to mouth corner. As the medial cheek fat compartment descends, tissue rests over the crease.
What changes is the depth of the shadow. Hyaluronic acid is a gel your body already makes; Restylane® Refyne is cross-linked to stay flexible as your face moves. It is placed in small aliquots at the mid-to-deep dermal level along the fold, the plane its FDA labeling describes.
| Product | Gel behavior | Where it is placed | FDA-approved for | Typical duration | Reversible |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restylane® Refyne | Flexible, moves with animation | The fold, mid-to-deep dermal | Moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds, over 21 | 6 to 12 months | Yes, with hyaluronidase |
| Restylane® Defyne | Firmer, holds a deeper crease open | Deeper, more etched folds | Moderate to severe deep facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds, over 21 | 6 to 12 months | Yes, with hyaluronidase |
| Restylane® Lyft | Firm, granular, holds projection | Medial cheek and the bony rim beside the nose, on bone | Cheek augmentation for age-related midface contour deficiencies, over 21 | 12 to 18 months | Yes, with hyaluronidase |
| Juvéderm® Voluma® XC | Smooth and cohesive | Cheek only, deep and on bone | Deep injection in the cheek for age-related midface volume deficit, over 21 | 12 to 18 months | Yes, with hyaluronidase |
| Sculptra® | Not a filler; stimulates collagen | Diffusely across the midface, over sessions | Shallow to deep nasolabial fold contour deficiencies in immunocompetent adults | Builds over 3 to 6 months; studied to 25 months | No |
Sculptra® is shown as a contrast, not a fold treatment here. Approvals are as stated in current U.S. product labeling, and durations combine labeling with observation in practice.
Restylane® Refyne — FDA-approved as a Class III device for mid-to-deep dermal implantation to correct moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds, in patients over 21. Contains 20 mg/mL hyaluronic acid with 0.3% lidocaine. Formulated to stay flexible with movement.
Restylane® Defyne — FDA-approved for the correction of moderate to severe deep facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds, in patients over 21, and separately for chin augmentation. Firmer than Refyne, which is what lets it hold a deeper crease open where a more flexible gel would fold with it.
Restylane® Lyft — FDA-approved for cheek augmentation to correct age-related midface contour deficiencies, and for correction of moderate to severe facial folds and wrinkles such as nasolabial folds. Placed supraperiosteally here, not into the fold.
Juvéderm® Voluma® XC — FDA-approved for deep injection in the cheek area to correct age-related volume deficit in the midface in adults over 21. It is not approved for the nasolabial fold itself, so it is used at the cheek rather than in the fold.
Hyaluronidase — Kept on site for every filler appointment. Use for cosmetic filler dissolution is off-label, it breaks down your own hyaluronic acid alongside the product, and it carries its own allergy risk. It does not reverse a collagen stimulator.
Your face is photographed at fixed distance and lighting. We read the fold together, at rest and moving.
You see the plan on paper before a syringe is opened: product, volume, price, risks. Any off-label placement is named at this point and recorded in the written consent.
This is the shortest part of your visit. Topical anesthetic, photographs, placement. Support at the medial cheek goes in first where it is indicated, since it changes how much the fold still needs.
Two weeks later, once swelling has resolved, more is added only if the fold asks for it.
Most of the 30 to 45 minutes is photographs, marking and topical anesthetic. Swelling and unevenness walking out are ordinary.
Correction shows immediately, though day one is part swelling. The fold settles between day 3 and day 14. Give it two weeks before you judge it.
No. Smile line filler softens the fold rather than erasing it. A fold that disappears entirely at rest usually means more volume than the face carries. The crease marks where skin is tethered to deeper tissue.
Most patients need 1 to 2 syringes, and often half goes to the cheek rather than the fold. A first appointment is typically one syringe, reviewed at two weeks. Deeper folds can take 2 to 3 syringes.
Both, usually, and the cheek comes first. The fold deepens when the medial cheek descends, so a firmer gel on the cheekbone reduces how much the fold needs. Filling only the crease reads as heaviness.
Correction in the nasolabial fold typically lasts 6 to 12 months. The fold moves every time you speak, so gel there breaks down faster than on the cheekbone, which often holds 12 to 18 months.
Most patients describe pressure with brief stinging. Topical anesthetic sits for about 15 minutes and Restylane® Refyne contains 0.3% lidocaine, so the area numbs as the injection proceeds. The end nearest the nose is the tender part.
Yes. Restylane® Refyne is a hyaluronic acid gel, so hyaluronidase, an enzyme injected in the office, breaks it down. It is not a precise eraser, since it breaks down some of your own hyaluronic acid too.
Bruising, swelling, tenderness and small lumps are common. The serious risk is vascular occlusion, where filler enters or compresses a vessel and the skin that vessel feeds loses its blood supply, which can cause skin loss and, very rarely, vision loss. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a safety communication on unintentional injection of soft tissue fillers into blood vessels in the face, which names vision impairment and blindness among the reported outcomes.
Most patients return to work the same day. Swelling is obvious for 24 to 48 hours, and bruising lasts 3 to 7 days. Book two weeks ahead of anything you cannot be bruised for.
Usually not: the two answer to different findings. Botox® quiets the nerve signal to a muscle, so it softens lines a muscle folds into skin. The nasolabial fold is a structural crease over a fixed attachment. Every botulinum toxin product carries a boxed warning for distant spread of toxin effect beyond the injection site. Small doses near the nose can soften a strong upper lip elevation in selected patients, which is an off-label use and addresses a different finding from the fold itself.
The cost depends on your treatment plan. Call (614) 425-1633 for current pricing and ask what consultation, treatment, and follow-up charges apply.
This page is general information, not medical advice, and not a substitute for an in-person evaluation. Treatment requires a provider consultation and a medical eligibility review, and treatment is provided only where it is indicated.
Individual results vary. Nothing here is a promise of a specific result, and dermal filler is temporary.
Restylane® and Sculptra® are registered trademarks of Galderma. Juvéderm® is a registered trademark of Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie company. Botox® is a registered trademark of Allergan, Inc. Rouge Aesthetics is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by those companies, and names them only to identify the products used.
Rouge Aesthetics · 101 Mill Street, Suite 210, Gahanna, OH 43230 · (614) 425-1633
Individual results vary. This website provides general information and does not replace an individual consultation.