Lip Enhancement

What is Lip Enhancement?

Lip enhancement procedures are designed to change the shape of the lip or increase the fullness of the lips. Both the upper and lower lips can be enhanced. For the upper lip, lift procedures can be used to shorten a long upper lip.

Who can be candidate?

People who always had thin lips, or want to restore their lips to the fullness and shape they had in their youth, a lip augmentation procedure may produce the look they are seeking. Lip enhancement can be also used for the correction of an asymmetric lip.

What are some of the most common benefits of Lip Enhancement?

If you are unhappy or self-conscious about the appearance of your lips, these enhancement procedures provide options for you to change your appearance and improve your self-confidence.

What will happen at the initial consultation?

The initial consultation will begin at our office with a complete medical history and exam. You should tell your doctor if you have had any previous operations or injections to your lips, if you have a history of cold sores or herpes, or if you have had collagen injections in the past. You will be asked to look into a mirror and point out those areas of your lips and mouth that you would like to see improved. You should be very frank in discussing what you hope to achieve. This will help us understand your expectations and determine whether they can realistically be achieved. Other options available to you will be discussed along with risks and limitations. The costs of the treatment will be explained. Your photograph will be taken.

How are Lip Enhancement treatments performed?

There are a number of techniques used for lip enhancement, each with its own advantages and limitations. Lip enhancement procedures with hyaluronic acid fillers or fat injections can be performed safely in an outpatient aesthetic medicine center. The injection can be performed under local or topical anesthesia with Lidocain creme. You will not feel pain, but you may notice some gentle tugging. The procedures last in general 30-45 minutes, depending on the procedure. If the procedure is done in the office under local anesthesia, you may drive yourself home afterwards.

Injections of Filler Material

Hyaluronic acid is a natural substance found in your body. High concentrations are found in soft connective tissues and in the fluid surrounding your eyes. It’s also in some cartilage and joint fluids, as well as skin tissue. It is extracted and reformulated and now has become one of the most popular kinds of injectable fillers. When this gel is injected, it acts like an inflated cushion to support facial structures and tissues that may have lost volume or elasticity due to normal aging. It also brings water to the surface of skin to keep it looking fresh and supple. In the last few decades, various synthetic forms of hyaluronic acid have been developed and used to correct disorders in the fields of rheumatology, ophthalmology and wound repair. More recently, synthetic forms of hyaluronic acid are being manufactured for use in face augmentation.

Hyaluronic acid combined calcium hydroxyiapatite has a longer-lasting effect. Made from calcium hydroxyiapatite, an element found in bone and teeth, which is created in tiny spheres for injection into soft tissue. The spheres gradually dissolve away into bone or fat and are then filled in by collagen cells, subsequently enhancing the correction.

The skin around the lips is initially treated with a cream to anesthetize the skin, if needee followed by placing local anesthesia around the mouth. Hyaluronic acid is injected into the upper and/or lower lips with a very fine needle. It can also be combined with the marking of the vermilion border by injecting the gel along the lip line. Redefining this edge leads to a more youthful and appealing look.

Fat Injections

The skin around the lips is initially treated with a cream to anesthetize the skin, followed by placing local anesthesia around the mouth. The fat is removed from an area of excess, usually the abdomen (the donor site). After local anesthesia is placed in the donor area, the fat is harvested, prepared and then injected in the lip using a small needle. Often patients choose to have other areas of their face enhanced with the harvested fat, such as the deep cheek folds.