How to Get Rid of Nasolabial Folds Fast

Co-authored by Amy Bobinger | Medically reviewed by Luba Lee, FNP-BC, MS

Last Updated: July 17, 2022 References

Skin aging, including all of its manifestations from wrinkles to age spots to the crepey skin, is as real and natural as aging, in general, could get. Nothing really can be done to stop these visible signs of aging, including developing nasolabial folds, also called expression lines or laugh lines, from showing up at some point in your life. There are DIY treatments that you can follow^{[1]
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Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Preparing For A Procedure

Getting a procedure should go beyond your desire to restore your younger-looking skin. It is a decision that must not be made out on a whim. Check out this list of must-dos when you’re weighing out your options, even when you think you’ve already made up your mind about which procedure you should get.

1
Know what you want. It’s not enough that your sister or your best friend spilled you a litany testifying to the wrinkle smoothing effect of a treatment they got from some clinic in your local downtown area. Don’t allow yourself to be talked into any procedure. Think about what results you want. Ask yourself if you honestly feel that you need to undergo a procedure to be happier and to feel more beautiful. Some people need that extra boost for their confidence while the rest are confidently beautiful in their own, raw skin.
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Set realistic targets. Any procedure can only enhance your skin so much but not be able to completely bring back your 20-something-year-old skin. In fact, the more you push back, the more artificial you’ll end up looking. Getting a procedure is like getting a natural makeup done only it stays on longer. That means, less will give you more. You can’t fight all your aging skin issues all at once or you’ll risk looking less like yourself — and you don’t want that. Here are questions that you should be asking yourself before making a go or no-go decision:
- What procedures do you find acceptable? In general, skin enhancement procedures fall under three categories: non-invasive, minimally invasive, and invasive. The first and second will give you subtle improvements over several sessions and may entail minimal to no downtime. The third category will give you drastic changes to your appearance and will require you to be rested for several days depending on the intensity of the procedure.
- What resources are you willing to give for this procedure? Skin enhancement procedures do not come cheap. You have to examine your budget relative to the options that you are looking at. Remember that many of these procedures require several treatment sessions before you can see any visible improvements to your skin, and that also requires you to set aside time to get follow up procedures in the long run.
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Do you have any medical condition that must be considered? You should consider the possibility that a medical condition or even an allergy that you have may deter you from availing of the skin enhancement procedure that you have in mind. You should keep these in mind and make sure that your skin care specialist is well-informed during your initial consultation.^{[2]
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Know your options. Googling up what procedures might be best to correct your wrinkles is a good way to become better informed about the best procedures to tackle nasolabial folds.^{[3]
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Know your specialist. Since skin care procedures broadly fall under services, the quality of service you will get will greatly depend on the knowledge and skills of the person rendering you that service.^{[4]
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American Academy of Dermatology
Professional organization made of over 20,000 certified dermatologists
Go to source} So, make sure to get only the services of a qualified professional. If you want to be sure, you can always look up your specialist’s name from the local licensing board. You should also ask around. Ask your friends who have had a procedure done to help you narrow down your options. Ask fellow patients about their experience with the clinic during your initial consultation.
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Follow pre-procedure care down to the tee.Once you’ve finally decided to go ahead and schedule a procedure to make noticeable improvements on your nasolabial folds happen, make sure that you follow your skin care specialist’s instructions for pre-procedure care to the very last detail. Not only will that help ensure that you will get the optimal results from the procedure that you’ve chosen but also, help ascertain your safety. If there is any unclear instruction, make sure to ask again.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Getting A Procedure

These are procedures best suited for correcting the appearance of nasolabial folds.

1
Skin tightening treatment. These treatments are highly targeted and will not hurt or damage skin tissues unaffected by problematic laugh lines. Under this category of procedures fall radio frequency, laser light, and ultrasound treatments. The idea is to deliberately damage areas of your skin where laugh lines are showing through which, in turn, causes your skin to regenerate new skin and resurface a new replacement layer. It may take several sessions before visible improvements start to show depending on the depth of your nasolabial fold.^{[5]
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Filler injection. Fillers that introduce external sources of synthetically formed materials, such as hyaluronic acid or collagen fillers, are injected into strategic points of your skin to fill in, plump, and lift nasolabial folds. Depending on the presentation of your laugh line, there is a specific filler material and technique appropriate to correct it.^{[6]
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Subcision.This treatment involves the insertion of a needle just underneath the surface of your skin. Throughout the procedure, the needle is pointed at very specific angles to help erase the unwanted folds. A clinical study of the procedure showed that 75 percent and more than 80 percent of patients were satisfied with the results one month and six months, respectively, after undergoing the procedure.^{[7]
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PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
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Dermabrasion.This has become one of the go-to procedures for keeping skin youthful looking in general. The best advantage, therefore, is that skin experts have had plenty of experience administering it and, because this treatment has been around for a relatively long period of time now, the results are predictable and guaranteed. This procedure involves sloughing off your skin surface using an abrasive object to stimulate faster skin regeneration and turnover.^{[8]
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Chemical peel. Depending on the depth of your nasolabial folds, the improvements that you desire, and your tolerance to the burning sensation of chemicals, your skin care specialist will help you determine the appropriate chemical agent, possibly a combination of chemicals, to use to fade your laugh lines.^{[9]
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Research source} Don’t DIY chemical peels as there is a high risk of permanently damaging your skin when use is miscalculated or, if chemicals, most especially the strong kinds like trichloroacetic acid, are mishandled.^{[10]
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Botox.This procedure makes use of a specific type of toxin to smoothen out your problematic folds. Botox works on paralyzing the muscles underneath your skin which makes these muscles relax and stretch out. In the same way, affected skin on top of these muscles is also stretched back to a pre-expression state that practically erases the appearance of your laugh lines. Botox results last for up to three or four months. After that, you will need your injection to be re-worked. There are a number of risks associated with Botox. Make sure you know exactly what these are so that you can make a decision about whether or not these risks are acceptable to you or not.^{[11]
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Plastic Surgery.Generally recommended as a last resort treatment for smoothing out deep laugh lines, surgery should be carefully selected. This procedure involves a surgical facelift that rearranges the fats or adds more of these underneath your skin, relieving you of crepey skin. Make sure to educate yourself about alternative treatments and the possibilities each of these offer to resolve your issues about your nasolabial folds. More importantly, you must carefully weigh out the benefits against the risks that you are taking.^{[12]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Hiding The Folds Naturally

When you decide to choose more natural ways to help fade your nasolabial folds, there are also available options.

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Use makeup.^{[13]
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- Always start with a clean face:: Cleanse and clear your face of debris formed from excess oil and dirt, as well as product residues. Exfoliate when you can.
- Treat your skin: Apply a toner to help seal in the moisture to keep your skin well moisturized and dewy. Add other treatments, including your Vitamin C, essence, serum, and moisturizer. This step will help plump your skin.
- Apply primer: This step is optional but it is highly recommended when you know you will need your makeup to stay on for longer.
- Add highlighter to your nasolabial folds: Tilt your face down as you perform this step looking into the mirror so you can see where the shadows appear. Use a fine tipped or slim concealer brush to dot the product under the fold where the shadows are showing. This will help lift this sunken area forward. For this step, use a concealer that is one shade lighter than your natural skin tone.
- Use a medium sized dome brush to blend the product: Take not to brush along the fold. Rather, you should brush underneath. Push up the product to tuck it against the fold, essentially making the shadows fade and bringing the fold forward to give you a smoother surface texture.
- Layer with a foundation in your natural skin tone: Apply the product evenly across your face with a broad brush.
- Use a contouring powder: Get more lifting power by contouring your cheek area and jawline. This will help make the hollow part of your nasolabial folds appear higher and firmer.
- Put on a little blush: Give your look a radiant finish with a little blush on the cheek. This technique makes your skin appear even firmer by guiding the onlooker’s eyes to focus more on your cheekbones.
2
Practice face yoga: Yoga poses for the face can help you revive your skin’s elasticity which, in turn, helps stretch back your nasolabial folds.^{[14]
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- Blow air:Press your lips against each other. Blow air into your mouth without letting the air escape. Hold the pose for at least three minutes before releasing
- Wide smile:Press the index finger of both hands on each corner of your mouth.Then, pull outwards towards your ears. Hold the pose for at least three minutes before removing your fingers.
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Treat your skin naturally.Botanically sourced ingredients that include olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, and aloe vera, can all help speed up your skin’s natural healing process, effectively correcting the appearance of nasolabial folds. Honey and vegetable-derived glycerin can dramatically boost your skin’s moisture content and elasticity, making your skin plump up and stretch back as a result of new-found dewiness. Use a blender to mix all or any combination of these ingredients together and use the puree as a deep hydrating mask.
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Sleep. You’ll be surprised at how drastically your skin can improve in all accounts — that is, smoothness, softness, tone, and radiance if you can only give yourself a break. Make sure to get at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep night after night. That gives your skin plenty of time to rejuvenate and heal damages in your matrix, including the creases that are making your nasolabial folds show through.^{[15]
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Drink plenty of fluids. It is important to hydrate from within too. Apart from plain water, you should also strive to get more nutrients in your drinks. Mineralized water can help if you have access to a clean source. You should also blend or juice veggies and fruits. The natural vitamins and minerals will help restore energy and vitality to your skin.