Align Your Mouth and Say Good Bye To a Crooked Smile
When you look at your face in photos or the mirror, you can see that your features do not entirely match with each other. An ear may start at a higher point than your other ear, or one side of your nose may be a sharper point than the other.
Having symptoms that do not adequately mirror each other on both sides of your face is called asymmetry.
Almost everyone has some degree of asymmetry if we compare their face. But some cases of asymmetry are more noticeable than others. Injury, ageing, smoking, and other factors may contribute to asymmetry. The asymmetry that is benign and has always been healthy.
However, new, noticeable asymmetry may be a sign of a severe condition such as Bell’s paralysis or stroke. Keep reading to learn more about testing and treatment, as well as the causes of an asymptomatic face.
What causes a person to develop an asymmetric face?
Genetics
Sometimes an asymmetric face is just the result of evolution and genetics. If you have prominent, asymmetric lips in your family, chances are you can find them too.
Cleft lip and palate and vascular disorders are genetic health conditions that researchers assign to the source as causes of various features.
Ageing
As you get older, facial asymmetry increases. It is a natural part of ageing. Although your bones stop growing in puberty, your cartilage continues to grow as you age.
This means that your ears and nose start ageing and changing, which can lead to asymmetry.
Injury
Trauma or injury to your face in childhood or adulthood can lead to asymmetry. Injuries like a broken nose or a deep cut can cause your face to look uneven.
How to test if your attributes are symmetrical
You can find out if your face is symmetric by evaluating your face at home. A printed photo of himself works best for this.
Mark the following points on the picture of your face. Or, if you are using a mirror, use a marker that you can later erase from the glass:
- The top of your forehead and the bottom of your chin (this is just a set of points you will check for vertical symmetry; the rest are horizontal)
- crease the far side of both your eyes
- Where each of your eyes starts next to the bridge of your nose
- crease where your lips begin from both sides
- The widest point on both sides of your face
- The widest part of your nose on both nostrils
Using a ruler, you can see and see if you can mark a complete level, the horizontal line between each set of two points.
There are free online apps that will evaluate your face picture at no cost and will evaluate your face contours. Beware of taking the results of these apps seriously.
Facial exercises
If your lips are uneven, it may be due to underdevelopment or weakening of your facial muscles. This may be the result of a condition like Lyme disease, or it may be present from birth.
Here are some facial exercises you can do to make your lips look more balanced:
- Tighten your lips as if you are going to try to whistle. Hold that position for 10 to 15 seconds and repeat 10 to 20 times a day.
- Close your lips with your lips as if you are trying to touch the corners of your crooked smile mouth with your ears. Hold that position for 10 seconds. Next, spread your lips slightly with your teeth. Hold the position again. Then, stretch your lips as far as they can with your teeth. Hold the position, then relax.
- Purse your lips. Suck in your cheeks so that they are close to touching each other (usually called fish face). Then, move your lips up and down in the pakoras position.
Lip augmentation.
Injecting on the lips to enhance the lips or expel lips also increases lips. The most common dermal filler used to be collagen but has been replaced with products that are considered safe and long-lasting.
Hyaluronic acid and polyacrylamide are the most popular dermal fillers currently used.
Fat injections are also available, but liposuction surgery is included to remove fat from any other area of your body.
Sometimes the filler can cause an allergic reaction to your face or lips. Be sure to complete a professional consultation to understand the various filler options available and to get a qualified recommendation on the best option for you.
Lip surgery
In severe cases, your uneven lips may require surgery. Lip reconstruction is usually performed by a plastic surgeon. Sometimes lip surgery becomes a challenge due to the central role that your crooked smile lips play in your life.
Lip surgery is performed with both a functional and aesthetic focus. Sometimes the extra skin needs to be removed from other places on your body to rebuild the lips. If you are considering lip surgery, be sure to consult your doctor for a referral.
If the asymmetry of your lips is very slight or minimal, try to correct your lips by practising facial exercises before considering lip injection or surgery.
If your lips are uneven and cause an emotional or physical problem, options to consider include injections, micro-pigmentation (tattooing) and plastic surgery.