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. Moenster and Dr. Weyer offer a variety of fillers to help increase the volume of the top lip, bottom lip, or both.
Candidates
CandidatesLip augmentation candidates include:
- 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 that 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 and then 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 up 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 is where fat from one area of your body is removed, spun down, allowed to separate and naturally filter, than reinjected into another area. This is a more permanent 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 they desire.
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 the 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 permanent lip augmentation. Something to remember with a permanent 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 and growth. This can make removal of the implants very difficult and distort the lip after removal of the implant.
Length of Procedure
- Injectable Fillers: 30 minutes
- Free Fat Transfer: 1-3 hours
- Lip Implants: 1-3 hours
Risks, Recovery & Results
Lip augmentation risks may include the following:
Injectable Fillers:
- Swelling & 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 us to one week. This helps prevent infections and bleeding from the augmentation areas.
After lip augmentation procedure, you will notice immediate results. It will take 2 -3 weeks for swelling and bruising to subside.
To learn more about our various dermal fillers for Lip Augmentation, or to schedule your consultation with Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. Moenster or Board-Certified Dermatologist Dr. Weye, please fill out the form on this page. You can call our Tucson location at 520-207-3100 or our Sierra Vista location at 520-458-1787. We look forward to seeing you soon!