Are absolutely nothing to laugh about! Because they make your face look older and make you look sadder. Did you know: Not all puppet wrinkles come only in old age? Some tend to do this early on, especially when laughing. What are the first signs? What can you do about it? Find out the answers here.
A picture with many names. One is from former German Chancellor Angelika Merkel. Look at a picture of yourself and you know why. The puppet crease separates the chin and mouth area from the rest of the face, just like a marionette. In medical jargon, it is also called the mentolabial fold because it runs vertically down from the corner of the lip to the chin. That is, drooping corners of the mouth form with a usually deep furrow down to the chin. As a result, affected individuals are usually perceived as sad. This is often exacerbated by sagging cheeks, which automatically develop with age due to an increase in the lower facial fat pads.
Interesting detail: at times, the nasolabial fold merges into the marionette fold, making the face look as if it were particularly exposed to gravity by pulling facial regions downward. This means that a very pronounced additional nasolabial fold can make your face look even older. But it can also make a problem in early years.
Strictly speaking, puppet wrinkles are not a problem of aging, but the foundation is laid already in the late 20s and early 30s. And how? As the muscle that pulls down the corner of the mouth gains increasing strength. In addition, its counterparts that move upward become weaker. That’s the way it is with most people. To make matters worse, this often causes fat deposits to build up on the muscle that pulls down. The result: Especially when laughing heartily, a deep wrinkle and a small cheek at the side of the corner of the mouth become visible in addition to fine lip wrinkles. The good thing is that, especially at a young age, there are simple ways to counteract this.
If we were to look for two culprits, they would be overactivity of a facial muscle on the one hand and the aging process on the other. Muscle overactivity is responsible, especially in young people, for the corners of the mouth being pulled down sharply or deep marionette folds appearing at the sides of them when laughing heartily. It is called the musculus depressor anguli oris. But in order for us to look happy, there are still counterparts on the face that pull up the corners of the mouth. These are several fine muscle groups with again long Latin names. If there is now unconscious overactivity of the depressor muscle, the antagonists cannot keep the wound angles in balance and a fold is formed.
On the other hand, facial fat pads migrate from the top to the bottom as we age. That is why the face often looks heavy in older people. As the upper half of the face looks rather bony especially in the temple and eye region and rather oily in the lower third. The consequences are an increase in static facial wr inkles such as nasolabial folds, marionette lines and sagging cheeks.
In your mid-20s, you’ll notice the first signs best when you laugh – due to overactivity of the chin muscle pulling down from your mouth. This will create deep vertical creases next to the corners of your mouth, pulling towards your chin. Often, small fat pads border the sides of it, but they disappear completely when the face is neutral. Since the marionette crease is a rather deep furrow, you will notice the lines descending from the corner of the mouth on both sides very quickly. Unlike frown lines or forehead wrinkles, it remains permanent early on – no matter what facial expression you have.
Ideally, as soon as they appear. This is because they produce a sad, bitter facial expression, which is why affected people usually suffer particularly from them. In your 20s and 30s, this is often barely noticeable and when exactly when you wouldn’t expect it. Namely, when laughing, where deep wrinkles and cheeks form next to the corners of the mouth. However, especially in the beginning, it is very easy to balance the volume gain in the lateral chin and lower cheek region. Why? Because the reason is the overactivity of a facial muscle. The older you get, the deeper the wrinkle digs into your skin and the greater the treatment effort becomes. You can find out how to get rid of them in the FAQ section below.
Last updated: 20.10.2023
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