Correction of the nasojugal groove

Abstract

A young and pleasant face has a smooth and firm integument lining which covers and blends the different areas of the face in a continuous and harmonious way. The regularity of the skin surface should only be slightly marked by tiny wrinkles and lines which generally tend to deepen with age. In fact, owing to progressive relaxation, soft tissues are prone to move downwards gathering above the skin's fixation areas (ligaments and facial adherences) eventually becoming visible and looking more like furrows. This phenomenon, for example, affects the nasolabial area above the adherences between the dermis and the aponeurosis of the elevator muscles and the orbicularis oris. This line, which may be already present, even though rather vaguely, in childhood, tends to deepen owing to the dermal-adipose fold which forms above it. With age even palpebral and periorbital soft tissues, owing to the pull of gravity, to the movement and deterioration which they undergo, become thinner and descend, causing the formation of the so-called malar bags, as well as the deepening and extension of the nasojugal groove, which is the subject of this article. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.