LIP AUGMENTATION

facial implants

LIP AUGMENTATION

Fuller, more luscious lips can improve a woman’s self-confidence. Cosmetic lip augmentation or enhancement can plump and add volume to your lips. Dr. Storck offers a variety of fillers to help increase the volume of the top lip, bottom lip, or both.

CANDIDATES

  • Individuals that have lost volume in lips
  • Individuals that have developed fine lines or wrinkles in their lips
  • Individuals with asymmetrical lips
  • Individuals who desire fuller, more shapely lips
  • Individuals with good health
  • Individuals with realistic expectations

PROCEDURE

There are a few treatment options available for cosmetic lip augmentation.

Topical agents: Topical agents can improve the appearance of lip size temporarily. Typically these enhancers have some type of topical agent in them. These agents can sometimes be hot pepper or cinnamon oil or extract that causes a temporary enhancement or augmentation of the lips by stimulating an inflammatory response which causes the lip to temporarily swell. This again is a temporary fix that can be applied topically. The results are minimal. These topical agents are also usually mixed with a lip gloss. The shine of the lip gloss causes the lips to reflect more light which can enhance or highlight the appearance, making the lips appear larger.

Injectable Fillers (Juvederm): There are several options on the market, most of these being hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a product that is naturally found in our bodies that’s made in a lab. This comes in a gel form. The gel is injected into the lips either with or without a topical anesthetic agent. The lips will swell temporarily and can bruise from these injections. Over a period of two weeks, the gel will then absorb more of your body’s water and the swelling will decrease. Injectable lip augmentation can last anywhere from three months to one year, depending on the filler that is used. Juvederm is a good option to try out for lip augmentation as it is not permanent, but it can give you an idea of what lip enhancement would look like. This is currently the most common form of lip enhancement. Another bonus of using Juvederm is it is reversible if you do not like your new look.

Free Fat Transfer: Fat from one area of your body is removed, spun down in a centrifuge, allowed to separate and naturally filter, then reinjected into another area. This is more of a long-term option and can last anywhere from 3-5 years depending on how much of the fat takes. Typically, 50-70% of the fat from free fat transfer stays. This can lead to some unevenness which will usually require two more treatments to get the full effect of the enhancement desired.

Lip Implants: Lip implants are either tissue or lab made synthetics. These can vary from autologous which means it’s from the same patient donation, where either a tendon or dermis from another portion of the body is donated to enhance the lip. It can be donated from a cadaver, meaning a same species where a cadaver would donate skin or tissue. This is then cleansed and washed of cellular debris and implanted into the body. Over time the body then grows into this tissue and it’s accepted as its own tissue. There is also a synthetic option. There are multiple types of lip implants available made from Gortex, solid silicone tubing and P.T.F.E. These can be implanted into the lip for a long lasting lip augmentation. Something to remember with an implant, if you have not tried one of the temporary augmentation options, is that if you don’t like the look, obviously it takes surgery to put the implant in and surgery to remove the implant. Some of the implants have the ability for natural tissue in growth. This can make removal of the implants very difficult and distort the lip after removal of the implant.

LENGTH OF SURGERY

  • Injectable Fillers: 30 minutes
  • Free Fat Transfer: 1-3 hours
  • Lip Implants: 1-3 hours

RECOVERY, RISKS AND RESULTS

Injectable Fillers:

  • Swelling and redness
  • Tenderness

Free Fat Transfer

  • Lumps or bumps can form

Lip Implant

  • Infection
  • Extrusion (the implant will push out)

Exercise should be avoided until your physician states otherwise. For free fat transfer, there is typically one to two days of downtime before resuming all physical activities. For some of the surgical options, physical activities should be avoided for up to one week. This helps prevent infections and bleeding from the augmentation areas. After a lip augmentation procedure, you will notice immediate results. It will take 2 -3 weeks for swelling and bruising to subside.