Lateral Canthal Lines · The Smile Kept · CityLink Mall
Crow's feet are the fan of lines at the outer corner of the eye, formed where the ring muscle around the eye folds thin skin. This page covers how movement lines are told apart from lines that have set, why BTX here is kept to small doses, and when skin treatment or a surgical opinion fits better.
The orbicularis oculi is a ring of muscle that closes and narrows the eye. Its outer fibres tighten every time you smile, laugh or squint, and the loosely attached skin above them folds into the same radiating pattern each time.
Young skin flattens again once the expression ends. When the dermis loses collagen and elastin, the fold lingers and each repetition deepens it. Genes set the starting point; the factors below set the pace.
Types
Dr Sin Yong examines the outer eye in three positions: with your face completely still, in a gentle smile and in a full squint. He also notes which way each line runs and checks the brow and lids.
The most useful question is simple: do the lines disappear when your face is at rest? If they do, movement is the main problem. If they stay, the skin itself has changed and needs treatment of its own.
The Decision
The goal is a lighter fan, not an eye that has stopped moving. BTX is a prescription medicine; at the outer eye it is given in small doses at mapped points, and the dose is held back on purpose so the skin still creases when you laugh.
Treatment is built in layers. Daily broad-spectrum sunscreen, sunglasses in glare and, where your skin tolerates it, a retinoid or barrier-repair routine come before anything injected. They do not replace treatment once lines have set. BTX then deals with movement. Skin treatment is added only for lines that are still there at rest.
When to wait. BTX is postponed during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and while there is an infection, stye or cold sore near the eye. Other reasons are listed in the questions below. No treatment is always an option, and your plan is written down.
When to refer. Loose lower-lid skin that does not retract is referred to an oculoplastic or plastic surgeon. A new change in eye closure or facial movement on one side needs a medical assessment rather than a cosmetic appointment.
At Atelier
Filler is used rarely, if at all, at the outer eye and only in selected cases, because the skin is thin and the area swells readily.
If the lines that bother you sit under the lashes, read under-eye lines. If your forehead and frown are part of the same plan, see forehead and frown lines.
Safety
Small bruises, mild swelling and tenderness at the injection points are common and settle. Less often, the medicine reaches a neighbouring muscle. In the cheek elevators this can flatten the smile or make it uneven; in the lower eyelid it can weaken the blink, leave the eye watery or dry, or cause a bulge beneath the eye when you smile.
Nothing switches these effects off early; they ease as the medicine's action ends. Precise placement, small doses and studying your smile first lower the risk without removing it.
Contact the clinic if you notice a drooping lid or brow, a change in your smile, double vision, or an eye that will not fully close. Difficulty swallowing, speaking or breathing after BTX needs urgent hospital care: go to a hospital emergency department straight away rather than waiting to reach the clinic.
Atelier Aesthetics · Owned by AYA
1 Raffles Link, #B1-28, CityLink Mall, Singapore 039393 · +65 8023 7170
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