Yes, Drinking From a Straw Will Age Your Mouth. But Should You Stop?

We've heard for years about how terrible straws are for the environment, but there's actually another reason why you may want to ditch straws once and for all, even the reusable ones: They can cause wrinkles around the mouth and on your lips.

To be clear, we will all develop fine lines around the mouth as we age. But the recent boom in popularity of trendy reusable tumblers like the Stanley Quencher or Hydro Flask have caused people to wonder about whether their all-day straw-slurping habit isn't doing more harm than good.

Lucky for us, Allure sought the advice of three experts to help with this question of "to straw or not to straw": Lily Talakoub and Dhaval Bhanusali, both board-certified dermatologists, and David Shafer, a double board-certified plastic surgeon from New York City.

"When you use straws, you're pursing your lips repeatedly, leading to the appearance of perioral wrinkles earlier," Bhanusali told Allure. He went on to say that typically wrinkles take years to form but depending on how often you're taking sips, you might see them around your mouth sooner if you're a big straw user. Lily Talakoub agrees, noting that she's seen long-term patients of hers with daily straw habits develop lines around the mouth.

Of course, while cutting back on straw use can help prevent lines from forming prematurely around the mouth, there are other factors that can bring about the appearance of these lines as well, like smoking, sun exposure dehydration, and even genetics. "Genetics can play a role – daughter looks like mom, mom looks like grandma – as well as anatomy," explains Dr. Shafer. "If there is a lack of underlying skeletal, dental, and soft tissue support to the lower face, the skin is more likely to wrinkle."

Surprisingly, although experts all tend to agree that regular straw use contributes to signs of aging on the lips and around the mouth, those wrinkles are going to form eventually no matter what, so if you love your trendy Stanley Quencher, there's no reason to ditch it. There are plenty of other ways to address these premature signs of aging: Botox, fillers, in-office treatments, topical retinol, and – of course – daily SPF, even on your lips.