As if you didn’t have enough stress in your life already about the problems you know about…now you have to start worrying about the things you didn’t even know existed! We previously discussed one of the more recently described body image issues, namely the thigh gap. Well, we are now equally proud to announce the discovery and treatment of the “bitchy resting face!”
Never heard of it? That’s ok, we haven’t either – at least not phrased in such an eloquent way! Chances are you only know about Bitchy Resting Face (BRF) if you have it yourself.
For an overview of BRF and whether you are saddled with the symptoms of it, you can watch the very educational video below (kids, be sure and watch this only after receiving permission from your parents!):
For a slightly more serious take on BRF, there are ways to treat it. Aside from just being more cognizant of your resting facial expression and trying to smile more, there are genuine cosmetic medical treatments to help. First off, which aspects of your “facial posture” can contribute to BRF? If the corners of your mouth turn down naturally or you have a deep furrow in between your eyebrows, this can lead to the appearance of unhappiness that would give passersby a negative vibe. These wrinkles or furrows are caused by overactive muscles. Another tip-off that you have BRF is marionette lines. These are the deep depressions that extend from the corners of the mouth, down to the jawline. But these wrinkles are caused by a loss of collagen, not overactive muscles, and therefore require a different treatment. Regardless of the cause, the expressions that cause BRF are easy to treat non-surgically, and we’ll explain how below.
So let’s start with the overactive muscles that cause bitchy resting face (BRF). Those muscles are found in between the eyebrows and just under the corners of the mouth. And when it comes to muscles, the best treatment to relax these lines is a neurotoxin. This is just a fancy name for BOTOX, Xeomin and Dysport. By injecting one of these products into the muscles in between the eyebrows and below the corners of the mouth, these muscles relax and the wrinkles dissipate. This is a quick treatment that lasts from 3-6 months and costs under $200.
In the case of wrinkles caused by a loss of collagen, as in the case of marionette lines, that requires a filler. In the photo below, taken from the Radiesse website, the filler Radiesse can be used to fill in the lines around the mouth; especially the parentheses lines that extend from the nose to the corners of the mouth and the marionette lines that extend from the corners down to the jawline. When injecting this filler, as with any filler, it can be painful. That’s why I perform a “dental block” first. This means that I inject lidocaine/xylocaine inside the mouth which numbs up the facial skin around the mouth so the Radiesse injection doesn’t hurt. Surprisingly, the dental block doesn’t hurt based on what my patients have told me.
Fillers such as Radiesse can last up to 2 years and cost around $750. Regardless of which line or wrinkle you want removed along with that bitchy resting face, please seek out a board certified plastic surgeon to provide these non-surgical treatments. And don’t worry if you have BRF – you’re not alone. Even the vampire from True Blood has it!
