Can Fillers Reduce My Crow’s Feet?

What causes crow’s feet?

Wrinkles at the outer corners of your eyes are often called crow’s feet because they resemble the print of a bird’s foot. Several forces work together to carve these lines into your skin.

Muscle contractions

Crow’s feet are also called laugh lines because they appear every time you smile or laugh, contracting the muscles around your eyes. The average adult blinks about 15-20 times per minute — up to 19,200 times a day. Each blink contracts the muscles around your eyes and causes the thin skin to wrinkle. Smiles, laughs, frowns, and other expressions contract those muscles even tighter, forming a pattern of lines that will eventually stay put.

Loss of collagen and elastin

When your skin is young and full of collagen and elastin, it snaps back to its neutral, smooth state as soon as you relax your face, but as early as your mid-20s, your skin loses its ability to recover from facial contractions, and the lines remain. The delicate tissue around your eyes, which possesses very few oil glands and tends to be dry, is often the first place you notice this classic sign of aging skin.

Sun damage

The sun’s ultraviolet rays damage the tissue in the paper-thin skin around your eyes, exacerbating the effects of aging. Using broad-spectrum sunscreen daily can delay the appearance of crow’s feet.

Gravity

Gravity constantly tugs your skin downward, but the effects don’t show up until your skin’s defenses are down. Without a good supply of collagen and elastin, your forehead and brows sag down and apply pressure to the delicate skin around your eyes. Crow’s feet are the inevitable result.

How fillers reduce crow’s feet

The best way to shore up your sagging facial skin and restore a taut, youthful profile is to opt for a surgical face-lift. Dr. Polavarapu has many years of experience delivering transformative results. However, if you’re looking for a less-invasive approach, dermal fillers — often called a liquid face-lift — can temporarily restore lost volume, smooth wrinkles, and refresh your look.

Dr. Polavarapu offers several types of dermal fillers from leading brands. Each contains a different essential ingredient to address a wide range of skin complaints, including crow’s feet.

Hyaluronic acid

Your body naturally produces hyaluronic acid, a type of sugar in your skin and cartilage. When we use a hyaluronic acid-based dermal filler, it binds with the water in your skin’s layers and expands, plumping your skin from the inside out.

Calcium hydroxylapatite

Your bones and teeth contain the mineral calcium hydroxylapatite, and so do some dermal fillers. The manufacturer suspends mineral particles in the injectable filler’s gel-like solution, so when we deposit it under your crow’s feet, it lifts your skin and produces a smoother-looking complexion.

Fat

You can choose to plump up your wrinkled skin and crow’s feet with a shot of your own fat tissue in a procedure called autologous volumetric fat grafting. In this case, Dr. Polavarapu harvests some fatty tissue from your thighs or buttocks and injects it under the wrinkles in your face.

Boost your filler treatment

Fillers instantly restore lost volume under your crow’s feet and other facial wrinkles, but the products dissipate a little each time you laugh or smile. To cut back on those contractions and help your fillers last longer, we offer three effective neuromodulators: Botox®, Dysport®, and Xeomin®.

These products are derived from a neurotoxin and temporarily paralyze the tiny muscles in your face so they stop causing creases. Fillers and neuromodulators erase those lines and wrinkles so you can look younger without surgery.

Because these treatments fade with time, you’ll need to repeat them every year or so to keep the effects going. We’re here in Fort Worth, Texas, whenever you're ready to boost your filler or neuromodulator treatment. Call us or book online to get started.