Specialist article: Face
Full lips?A muscle with a task
Thin lips, a vermilion that rolls inwards, dry lips or a chin that dimples when you close your mouth? Here you will learn how the lip muscle is built, why lip closure, nasal breathing and swallowing pattern help shape your lips, what studies show about lip strength and how to train your lips in the interplay of breathing, swallowing and head balance.
Does this sound familiar?
Your lips look thin, and you are wondering why?
What applies to you?
Tap whatever applies to you.
If several of these apply, it is worth looking at how your lips work in everyday life. The basic shape of your lips is partly predetermined. How they rest against each other, how much tension they carry and whether the chin has to help, on the other hand, is a pattern. Patterns can be trained.
Why the chin joins inWhat studies show about lip strengthThe key points at a glance
- The lips are a muscle. The orbicularis oris runs as a ring around the mouth and has no attachment to bone. It finds its hold in the network of tension of the lower face.
- Whether the lips rest loosely against each other is determined by the interplay of breathing, swallowing and head balance. If that does not work, the chin muscle often steps in, and the lips are pressed together instead of closed.
- Lip strength can be measurably trained. We do not promise bigger lips. The aim of the training is a lip closure that runs without thinking.
Video
Full lips: what lip training can do
Das Video lädt erst nach dem Klick. Dann werden Daten an YouTube (Google) übertragen.
Anatomy
The lips are a muscle
When people think of full lips, they think of shape and colour. Beneath the vermilion, however, there is a muscle that is built differently from almost all others in the body.
Almost every skeletal muscle pulls from one bone to another. The muscle that closes the lips does not. The orbicularis oris, literally the ring-shaped muscle of the mouth, runs as a flat ring around the opening of the mouth. It is embedded in skin, mucous membrane and connective tissue and has no fixed attachment to bone at any point.
is the width of the pars marginalis above the vermilion border, measured on eleven upper lips from body donors1
of the fibres in the outer part were fast fibres, only 22% slow, examined in five upper lips2
Fast fibres develop a lot of force and tire quickly. In our view, the lip ring is therefore built for short, powerful tasks such as speaking, whistling or sucking, not for holding on for hours. Relaxed, closed lips are therefore less a question of strength than a question of pattern.
Network of tension
The knot at the corner of the mouth
If the ring muscle has no bone, what does it pull against? The answer lies at the sides, where the upper and lower lips meet.
Next to each corner of the mouth there is a tough, fibre-rich thickening, the modiolus. This is where the fibres of several facial muscles cross: the lip ring, the cheek muscle and the elevators and depressors of the corner of the mouth. A study of 19 body donors found dense, irregular connective tissue at the centre, and in around one in five specimens even a tendon-like knot3. It serves as an anchor for the converging muscles.
Tension at one point changes the pre-tension at all the others. If the tone in the lip ring increases, the cheek is drawn along and moves closer to the teeth. If the ring lacks its task, the tension is distributed to the chin and cheeks. In our view, the shape of the lips is therefore the result of an entire network of tension in the lower face.
The lips are not a cushion. They are part of a network of tension.What happens at the corners of the mouth, the cheeks and the chin shows in the lips. That is why we do not train the lips in isolation.
The triad
Lip closure: a resting position, not a question of strength
Many people whose mouths are often open can whistle loudly or blow up a balloon. The strength is there. What is missing is a resting position that runs without thinking.
In a relaxed state, the lips rest against each other without pressing. The tongue rests against the palate in the tongue reference position, and because you breathe through your nose, a slight negative pressure develops in the oral cavity. These three conditions support each other. The lower jaw carries the lower lip up to the upper lip, and the lip ring only has to seal. Understood in this way, lip closure takes hardly any effort.
Breathing
Nasal breathing needs a sealed mouth. If it is open, the pressure equalises through the mouth, even when the nose is clear.
Swallowing
You swallow many hundreds to thousands of times a day. The lips close, the teeth touch briefly, the tongue presses against the palate. With every swallow, you practise your pattern.
Head balance
If the head is balanced over the body, the lips come together easily. If it moves forwards, in our view the mouth opens more easily.
Sleep shows how much depends on lip closure. In twelve healthy adults, upper airway resistance during sleep was significantly higher with mouth breathing than with nasal breathing, and pauses in breathing occurred much more frequently4. Lip closure is therefore not a minor aesthetic matter. It is a condition for breathing and swallowing to run economically. More about the nose in the article Deviated septum.
Check now, while you are reading: how are your lips resting at the moment?
Vermilion
Dry lips: a special kind of skin
The red margin of the lip is the only place on the face where mucous membrane is constantly exposed to the outside air. That makes it sensitive, in two respects.
The surface of the vermilion is only incompletely keratinised and therefore offers poor protection against water loss. A dermatological research group in Japan compared the vermilion of 303 healthy women with the skin of their cheeks, in winter and using a closed measuring chamber that excluded the influence of breath5.
as much water evaporated through the vermilion as through the skin of the cheek, which itself already loses significantly more than other areas of the body5
of the cheek value was roughly the moisture level reached at the surface of the vermilion5
fine grooves could still be reliably distinguished on the lip by 15 young adults, whereas on the fingertip only grooves of 0.94 mm could6
A surface that seals poorly dries out quickly. If the mouth is open, the airflow passes over the vermilion with every breath. Cracked, brittle lips have many causes. In our view, an often overlooked one is the open mouth, especially at night when nobody is paying attention. More on night-time mouth breathing in the article on snoring and sleep apnoea.
At the same time, the lip senses more finely than the fingertip. When the lips rest loosely against each other, there is constant contact at one of the most sensitive places on the body. If it is missing, in our view the oral cavity lacks an important reference stimulus.
Compensation
When the chin takes over lip closure
If lip contact cannot be achieved from the resting position, the nervous system looks for a substitute solution. It sits directly below the lower lip.
The mentalis muscle, the chin muscle, pushes the chin pad upwards and in doing so lifts the lower lip. It becomes visible as chin wrinkling, small dimples in the skin of the chin. In measurements on 18 children between eight and twelve years of age, it worked very hard when swallowing water in those children whose lips did not close on their own at rest7.
Relaxed lip closure
- The lips rest against each other without pressing
- The chin stays smooth
- The vermilion shows as it is built
- When swallowing, it is mainly the tongue that works
Forced lip closure
- The lips are actively pressed together
- The chin wrinkles, the chin muscle helps
- The vermilion tends to roll inwards, the lips look thinner
- When swallowing, the lips and chin work with force
At first glance, both look like a closed mouth. For the nervous system, they are two different patterns.
In Chile, 63 people were compared in three groups: with relaxed, with open and with forced lip closure. During swallowing, the chin muscle was significantly more active in both conspicuous groups than with relaxed lip closure, and there was no difference between open and forced8. From the chin muscle’s point of view, anyone who holds their lips together with force therefore swallows like someone with an open mouth. More on the swallowing pattern in the article Swallowing and swallowing disorders.
is how much lip pressure during swallowing increased when the bite height of ten volunteers was gradually raised using splints of different heights in the lower jaw9
more muscle activity around the mouth was measured by the researchers, up to the bite height at which the lips could no longer be closed in a relaxed way9
The further the starting position is from relaxed lip closure, the more effort it takes. In our view, people who press their lips together often also press their teeth together. More on this in the article Understanding TMD.
Causes
How thin, pressed lips can develop
The basic shape of the lips is partly predetermined. How the lips work in everyday life is, in our view, usually a learned pattern, and this pattern often begins early.
The lips also help shape the dental arches. In a study of 41 people with untreated misaligned teeth, the muscle activity of the lips at rest influenced the position of the incisors, but only in people whose lips closed in a relaxed way. The strong but brief bursts of activity during chewing, speaking and swallowing did not10. So what counts is the gentle contact over many hours, not the peak force.
The pattern deviates
A dummy, a bottle, thumb-sucking or a frequently blocked nose keep the mouth open. The tongue lies low.
The body compensates
The chin helps with closing, and the lips press during swallowing. The nervous system stores this solution as a pattern.
The tension shifts
Whatever is not integrated into its function is not used and loses tension. The ring of lip muscle does little work, the chin a lot.
Form follows
Over the years, in our view, lip posture, tooth position and profile change along with it. The lips look thin, the red of the lips rolled inwards.
The pattern remains
Without targeted training, it carries on. The basic programme has not been deleted but overlaid, and it can be learned again.
A survey from Japan shows how common this is. According to the parents of 3,399 children aged between three and twelve, in 30.7% the lips did not close on their own at rest, and the proportion grew with age11. A survey, however, is not an examination. More under FaceFormer for children.
Context
Fillers or training? Two different goals
Anyone who wants fuller lips quickly ends up with hyaluronic acid. That is a different approach with a different goal, and it is worth keeping the two apart.
A hyaluronic acid injection changes the shape of the lips, not the function of the ring of lip muscles and not how the lips close in everyday life. Because the body breaks down the material, top-up injections are given. Most side effects are short-lived and harmless15; among the rare but serious complications are vascular occlusions, which have to be treated as an emergency16. Surgical procedures such as the lip lift change the shape of the upper lip surgically.
Anyone searching for “lips without surgery” often means training as a replacement for fillers or surgery. Training does not create volume like a filler. What you can practise is a relaxed lip closure, a smooth chin when closing and a red of the lips that is not rolled in. In our experience, lips that are no longer pressed often look fuller. The training changes the function, not the amount of filling.
A filler shapes the surface. Training shapes the lip seal.One does not replace the other. If you know both, you can decide what you actually want.
Like shoulder pads and posture
A jacket with shoulder pads looks upright on any body. The pads do not change how someone stands and walks. That is roughly how we see fillers and lip seal. One shapes the surface. The other determines how the lips work, many hundreds to a thousand times a day when swallowing and all night long when breathing.
If you have fillers in your lips or are planning a treatment, agree the timing of the training with the practice that does the injections. Tape over the mouth likewise only closes the lips from the outside; the article on mouth taping explains why the pattern remains. An overview is given in FaceFormer and other treatments.
Research
Training lip strength: what studies show
That lip strength can be increased through training is well researched. What that means for everyday life is another question.
In Japan, 154 children aged between three and twelve with weak lip closure strength or oral habits practised at home with a lip trainer for three months. Their strength increased, most markedly in the first month. Crossbite, open bite and tongue thrusting slowed the effect. There was no comparison group, and part of the increase may be due to growth.
was the average rise in lip-closing strength in one of the age groups after three months of training12
were randomly assigned in the Hamburg study to FaceFormer therapy or to myofunctional therapy without a device13
took part in a poster study from Jena that measured lip strength using the FaceFormer as a measuring attachment, half of them without training14
The Hamburg study is so far the only randomised study on the FaceFormer. Function in the oral cavity improved in both groups. With the FaceFormer, lip strength increased faster, but after six months there was no longer a significant difference in lip strength. The children with the FaceFormer achieved habitual mouth closure sooner. 30 of the 45 children were followed up; a co-author is Sabine Berndsen, co-developer of the method.
The poster study showed a training effect on lip strength after six weeks compared with the group without training. It was only published as an abstract without independent peer review, and both the measuring device and the FaceFormer come from co-authors. You can find all our own studies with their limitations under Studies and science.
Strength is a prerequisite. What matters is whether the lips use it in everyday life.Training that only increases lip strength reaches just one link in the chain. That is why we practise lip seal, swallowing, nasal breathing and head balance in one sequence.
Training
Training the lips: in context, not in isolation
There are many lip exercises without a device, from pursing the lips to holding a pen between them. They mainly train strength. In FaceFormer training, by contrast, the lips work together with the tongue, swallowing, nasal breathing and head balance, just as in everyday life. The goal is a lip seal that works without thinking.
The FaceFormer sits in the oral vestibule, behind the lips and in front of the teeth. The tip of your tongue rests on the small ridge behind your upper front teeth, you breathe through your nose, and your head is balanced upright.
In the basic exercise you press the lip wedge together with your lips for six seconds, bite down briefly with your back teeth and swallow once. Then you let go, and your lips enclose the wedge without force. If wrinkles form around your lips while pressing, draw the corners of your mouth slightly to the side, as in a hint of a smile.
From around week 3, the pull exercise is added. You press the lip wedge and at the same time pull it gently forwards. Your lips now hold the mouth closed against resistance.
The pull goes horizontally forwards; your head stays upright and does not move when you swallow. If the FaceFormer slips out, you are pulling harder than your lips can hold at the moment. Then pull more gently.
- From day 1
Basic exercise
Three times a day with the FaceFormer ZERO, made of softer material. In week 1 eight repetitions, in week 2 fourteen, from week 3 twenty.
- From around week 3
Pull exercise and night
The pull exercise is added. At night you wear the ZERO as soon as the basic exercise is secure, so you practise the lip seal while you sleep too.
- After a few weeks
Switching to the ONE
During the day, you train with the FaceFormer ONE. It is the same size and shape as the ZERO, just made of firmer material.
- Later
Further pull directions
Pulling upwards, downwards and in changing directions challenges the lip seal from different angles.
- Over months
The pattern runs by itself
The exercise manual allows six to twelve months until the new sequences run without thinking, followed by maintenance training.
The free FaceFormer app guides you through the basic exercises, and you will find all modules on the exercise pages. Start with little lip pressure; the ring of lip muscle builds up its tension gradually. A separate exercise plan applies to children.
Everyday life
Your lips in everyday life
Lips resting lightly together
The lips touch without pressing, the tongue rests against the palate, the teeth do not touch. That is the basic position.
Don’t lick them
Frequent licking tends to dry out the sensitive red of the lips rather than help. Better to use a mild, fragrance-free lip care product.
Keep an eye on your chin
If your chin puckers when you close your lips, the chin muscle is helping. A quick look in the mirror will show you.
Smile against wrinkles
If wrinkles form above your upper lip during training, draw the corners of your mouth slightly to the side while pressing, as in a hint of a smile.
Dry lips at night
If your lips stick to the FaceFormer at night, spread a thin layer of cooking oil on the inside and outside of the membrane before inserting it.
Head balance at the screen
Set up your screen and seat so that your head balances over your body. If it drifts forwards, your mouth opens more easily.
Questions
Frequently asked
Can you train your lips?
Yes. The lips are moved by a muscle, the orbicularis oris, and its strength can be measurably increased. In our view, however, what matters most for the shape of the lips is the pattern: whether the lips rest loosely against each other, whether the chin has to help, and whether you breathe through your nose. That is why we train the lips together with breathing, swallowing and head balance.
Will lip training give me fuller lips?
We do not promise larger lips. Training does not build volume the way a filler does. What can change is how the lips rest on each other. Pressed lips tend to roll in the red of the lips and look narrower; loosely closed lips show it as it is built. In our experience, lips that are no longer pressed often look fuller; how noticeably is individual.
Full lips without surgery – is that possible?
That depends on what you have in mind. More volume, as with a filler, cannot be achieved with training. A relaxed lip closure, a smooth chin when closing and a vermilion that is not rolled inwards are things you can practise. Fillers and training pursue different goals.
Why do my lips look thin?
In our view, the idea that thin lips are “a matter of disposition” usually falls short. The basic shape is partly predetermined, but how much of the red of the lips is visible also depends on whether the lips rest loosely on each other or are pressed together. Pressed lips roll in the red of the lips. If the mouth is often open, the ring of lip muscles lacks its task, and the tension shifts to the chin and cheeks. Both make the lips look thinner than they are built.
Why are my lips often dry or chapped?
The vermilion has a weak protective layer and loses almost three times as much water as the skin of the cheek. If the mouth is open, the airflow from breathing also passes over it, especially at night. Added to this are habits such as licking your lips. If your lips or the corners of your mouth do not heal for a long time despite care, other causes may be behind it, and it is worth having a doctor take a look.
Why does my chin wrinkle when I close my lips?
In that case the chin muscle is helping with the closure. It lifts the lower lip from below because the lips cannot close from the resting position. Measurements show that with forced lip closure it works about as hard during swallowing as with an open mouth. In training, you practise letting the lip ring take over the closure itself again.
Wrinkles form around my mouth during training – what can I do?
When pressing, draw your lips slightly to the side, as in a hint of a smile. The corners of your mouth stay closed around the lip wedge. Start with little lip pressure; the lip ring builds up its tension gradually.
Which FaceFormer should I use for lip training?
You start with the FaceFormer ZERO made of softer material. After a few weeks, you train during the day with the ONE, which is the same size and shape, only firmer. At night you use the ZERO.
More articles from the knowledge section
Experiences on this topic
Where to go next
Sources
- Hwang K, Kim DJ, Hwang SH (2007). Musculature of the pars marginalis of the upper orbicularis oris muscle. Journal of Craniofacial Surgery 18(1):151-154. PMID 17251855. Source
- Hwang K, Kim DJ, Hwang SH (2007). Immunohistochemical study of differences between the muscle fiber types in the pars peripheralis and marginalis. Journal of Craniofacial Surgery 18(3):591-593. PMID 17538323. Source
- Yu SK, Lee MH, Kim HS, Park JT, Kim HJ, Kim HJ (2013). Histomorphologic approach for the modiolus with reference to reconstructive and aesthetic surgery. Journal of Craniofacial Surgery 24(4):1414-1417. PMID 23851821. Source
- Fitzpatrick MF, McLean H, Urton AM, Tan A, O’Donnell D, Driver HS (2003). Effect of nasal or oral breathing route on upper airway resistance during sleep. European Respiratory Journal 22(5):827-832. PMID 14621092. Source
- Kobayashi H, Tagami H (2004). Functional properties of the surface of the vermilion border of the lips are distinct from those of the facial skin. British Journal of Dermatology 150(3):563-567. PMID 15030342. Source
- Van Boven RW, Johnson KO (1994). The limit of tactile spatial resolution in humans: grating orientation discrimination at the lip, tongue, and finger. Neurology 44(12):2361-2366. PMID 7991127. Source
- Tosello DO, Vitti M, Berzin F (1998). EMG activity of the orbicularis oris and mentalis muscles in children with malocclusion, incompetent lips and atypical swallowing, part I. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation 25(11):838-846. PMID 9846904. Source
- Gamboa NA, Fuentes AD, Matus CP, Marín KF, Gutiérrez MF, Miralles R (2022). Do subjects with forced lip closure have different perioral and jaw muscles activity? Cranio 40(1):48-54. PMID 31663426. Source
- MacAvoy SK, Jack HC, Kieser J, Farella M (2016). Effect of occlusal vertical dimension on swallowing patterns and perioral electromyographic activity. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation 43(7):481-487. PMID 27027864. Source
- Harradine NW, Kirschen RH (1983). Lip and mentalis activity and its influence on incisor position, a quantitative electromyographic study. British Journal of Orthodontics 10(3):114-127. PMID 6575819. Source
- Nogami Y, Saitoh I, Inada E et al. (2021). Prevalence of an incompetent lip seal during growth periods throughout Japan: a large-scale, survey-based, cross-sectional study. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 26(1):11. PMID 33478389. Source
- Nogami Y, Saitoh I, Inada E et al. (2022). Lip-closing strength in children is enhanced by lip and facial muscle training. Clinical and Experimental Dental Research 8(1):209-216. PMID 34499413. Source
- Korbmacher HM, Schwan M, Berndsen S, Bull J, Kahl-Nieke B (2004). Evaluation of a new concept of myofunctional therapy in children. International Journal of Orofacial Myology 30:39-52. PMID 15832861. Randomised study, co-author S. Berndsen. Source
- Kopp S, Berndsen K, Berndsen S, Ifert F, Wangemann D (2001). Reliabilität der funktionsorientierten Messung perioraler Muskulatur mit dem FaceFormer (Reliability of function-oriented measurement of the perioral muscles with the FaceFormer). Poster demonstration P52, 74th Annual Scientific Meeting of the German Orthodontic Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kieferorthopädie), Friedrichshafen. Conference abstract without independent peer review. Source
- Kyriazidis I, Spyropoulou GA, Zambacos G, Tagka A, Rakhorst HA, Gasteratos K, Berner JE, Mandrekas A (2024). Adverse events associated with hyaluronic acid filler injection for non-surgical facial aesthetics: a systematic review of high level of evidence studies. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery 48(4):719-741. PMID 37563436. Source
- Kroumpouzos G, Treacy P (2024). Hyaluronidase for dermal filler complications: review of applications and dosage recommendations. JMIR Dermatology 7:e50403. PMID 38231537. Source
Get started
Ready for the training?
The free FaceFormer app guides you through the basic exercises, counts along and reminds you of your sessions. If you wish, a practice from the practitioner directory can support you.
FaceFormer ZERO + ONE
Both material hardnesses for getting started, day and night. The set for adults.
FaceFormer ZERO
The softer FaceFormer for getting started, for children and for the night.
FaceFormer ZERO Children’s Set
ZERO with hygiene box, plush bag and success book with stamp.
FaceFormer training aims to restore the physiological setting of the basic functions of breathing, swallowing and head balance, with lip closure and the tongue reference position, thereby creating the conditions under which symptoms can improve. It does not replace a medical assessment. You can find practitioners near you in the practitioner directory.
