Crow’s feet usually show up during good moments. Smiling, laughing, squinting in the sun. They’re lines tied to expression, which is why people often feel conflicted about them.
For many patients, the concern isn’t that crow’s feet exist. It’s that they linger longer than they used to, or show up even when the face is relaxed. Softening them is often about balance, not erasing personality.
Fine lines at the outer corners of the eyes
Repeated muscle movement from smiling and squinting
Softer, refreshed eye area that still looks natural
What Are Crow's Feet?
Crow’s feet are fine lines that form at the outer corners of the eyes. They radiate outward and become more visible with smiling or squinting.
Why this area is affected: These lines develop in an area where the skin is naturally thinner and constantly moving. Every smile, laugh, and squint creates a crease. Over time, repeated expression combined with changes in skin elasticity can cause crow’s feet to remain visible even at rest.
What you might notice:
Why Crow's Feet Develop
Crow’s feet form primarily due to repeated muscle movement around the eyes, combined with natural aging changes.
Smiling and squinting — Every expression creates a crease in the thin skin around the eyes. Over decades, these repeated movements leave lasting marks.
Natural aging and collagen loss — As we age, we lose collagen and elastin in our skin. These proteins are what allow the skin to “bounce back” after movement.
Sun exposure — Sun exposure causes aging, which includes wrinkles like crow’s feet. UV damage accelerates collagen and elastin breakdown.
Thinning skin around the eyes — The skin in this area is already naturally thin, and it becomes thinner with age, making lines more visible.
As skin loses elasticity, expression lines are more likely to settle in permanently. Changes related to fine lines and wrinkles and overall skin quality can also make crow’s feet more noticeable.
How to Prevent Crow's Feet
While you can’t completely prevent crow’s feet, certain habits can help reduce their development and slow progression.
Use sunscreen daily: Sun exposure causes aging, including wrinkles like crow’s feet. Wearing a good SPF 30+ sunblock from EltaMD will help protect your skin from signs of aging and reduce your risk of skin cancer. Apply daily, even on cloudy days.
Wear UV-protective sunglasses: In addition to wearing sunscreen, wearing UV-protective sunglasses is generally a good rule of thumb — especially when it comes to preventing wrinkles around the eyes. Sunglasses also reduce squinting, which decreases the repetitive muscle movement that causes crow’s feet.
Use facial moisturizers and eye creams: Using anti-aging products such as facial moisturizers and eye creams will help support natural collagen in your skin and improve the appearance of facial wrinkles while stimulating new cell growth. While your crow’s feet won’t be gone forever, they can be reduced significantly.
Get regular facials: Treating yourself to a professional facial every now and then is essential to keeping your skin looking healthy and young. Chemical peels and other treatments can improve the overall appearance of your skin.
How Crow's Feet Can Affect Appearance
Crow’s feet can change how the eye area looks, even when you feel well-rested.
Patients often say these lines make them feel like they look:
These reactions are very common. Treating crow’s feet is usually about softening the area so the eyes still look expressive — just a bit more relaxed and refreshed.
What to Expect During a Consultation
A consultation at Lazaderm is designed to feel calm and informative.
During your visit, your provider will:
You’ll have time to ask questions and decide what feels right for you.
Setting Realistic Expectations
Treatment for crow’s feet provides improvement, not permanent change.
What to understand:
The goal is a softer, refreshed eye area that still looks natural — not a frozen or expressionless appearance.
At Lazaderm, we offer multiple treatments to reduce crow’s feet and facial wrinkles. The most effective approach depends on how much muscle movement and skin change are contributing to the lines. A consultation allows your provider to evaluate the eye area carefully and recommend the best combination of options.
Botox and Dysport are usually the first line of treatment for lines caused by muscle movement like crow’s feet.
How it works: Botox helps to weaken the muscles around your eyes, making it so lines do not form when smiling or squinting. By relaxing the orbicularis oculi muscle, Botox can soften the appearance of crow’s feet while preserving natural expression.
Treatment details:
Best for:
This treatment is often discussed alongside other upper-face concerns such as frown lines and forehead lines, since these areas work together during expression.
Topical treatments can support Botox results and improve skin quality around the eyes.
Vitamin A derivatives: The best choices for treating crow’s feet topically are vitamin A derivatives such as tretinoin or retinols. These help the skin turn over faster and improve the appearance of wrinkles.
Important caution: Do not apply tretinoin or retinols directly to the under-eye skin unless told to by your provider. The skin in this area is extremely delicate and can become irritated.
Other beneficial ingredients:
Topicals work best as part of a comprehensive treatment plan alongside Botox and other procedures.
Fillers can help reduce crow’s feet by plumping up the skin and providing support in the area.
How they work: Fillers add volume beneath the skin, which can smooth out lines and create a more youthful appearance around the eyes.
Best used in combination: At Lazaderm, we feel that fillers are best used in conjunction with Botox and topicals for optimal crow’s feet treatment. Botox addresses the muscle movement, while fillers address the volume and skin quality.
Products available:
Best for:
For the most significant improvement, ablative laser resurfacing can remove crow’s feet entirely.
How it works: The Sciton Erbium laser completely removes the top layers of skin, stimulating the growth of new, smoother skin with increased collagen.
Results:
Considerations:
Best for:
Fractional lasers offer significant improvement with less downtime than full ablative resurfacing.
How they work: Fractional lasers treat tiny sections of the skin at a time, leaving surrounding tissue intact. This promotes healing while still stimulating collagen production and skin renewal.
Options available:
Benefits:
Trade-off: Fractional lasers will not likely give the same results as full resurfacing, but they offer a good balance of improvement with less downtime.
Best for:
MOXI is a gentle fractional laser that can improve skin quality and fine lines around delicate areas like the eyes and mouth.
How it works: MOXI delivers fractionated laser energy to stimulate collagen production and promote cellular turnover, with minimal downtime and a comfortable treatment experience.
Best for:
Often combined with Botox/Dysport for comprehensive results — neuromodulators address muscle movement while MOXI improves skin quality.
Vivace Microneedling with RF offers improvement with very little downtime.
How it works: The Vivace combines microneedling with radiofrequency energy to stimulate collagen production and tighten skin around the eyes.
Key benefits:
Treatment protocol: To reduce crow’s feet with Vivace, you will need multiple treatments. Results develop gradually as collagen remodels over several months.
Best for:
Chemical peels can be beneficial for reducing fine lines around the eyes, though they work best as part of a combination approach.
How they work: Chemical solutions exfoliate the outer layers of skin, stimulating the growth of new, healthier skin with improved texture.
Important note: Chemical peels have minimal benefit for crow’s feet unless they are combined with other procedures such as Botox. As a standalone treatment, results are limited.
Best for:
Most patients achieve the best results by combining multiple treatments.
Common combinations:
Why combination works: Different treatments address different aspects of crow’s feet:
Your provider will recommend the most effective combination based on the depth of your lines, your skin quality, and your goals.
If crow’s feet are something you’ve been noticing or thinking about treating, a consultation can help you explore your options. At Lazaderm, consultations focus on education, safety, and helping you feel confident in your decisions.
