INTRODUCTION

For centuries, a woman’s lips have been viewed as a sign of her sensuality. In recent years Hollywood has brought full lips back into the forefront of fashion. If you were to look at almost any fashion magazine today you will notice that nearly every model has full, luscious lips. Unfortunately not everyone has naturally beautiful lips, but there are a number of ways to beautify the appearance of the lips. These methods fall into three categories: (1) commercial “filler” materials, (2) natural materials, and (2) synthetic implants.

The commercial “filler” implants consist of a number of products that are injected into the lips to add fullness. The original tissue fillers were made of purified collagen [Zyderm®, Zyplast®]. More recently the fillers are made of a biodegradable natural sugar called hyaluronic acid [Restylane®, Juvederm®, and Juvederm-Ultra® ]. A single treatment takes only a few minutes. Tissue “fillers” feel natural and are easy to perform. The biggest disadvantage of tissue “fillers” is that they only provide temporary improvement [6-9 months].

The most common “natural” filler is fat, usually taken from another part of the patients body. The fat is harvested by liposuction, processed, and then reinjected back into the lips. The newer techniques of fat transfer [“micro fat injections”] typically result in long lasting results. One of the greatest advantages of fat injections is the easy accessibility of fat material and the natural softness in the way it feels.

The synthetic materials are created from permanent, non-biogradable materials [Cymetra®, Artecoll®]. We do not perform lip enhancement with synthetic materials because of the unacceptable firmness of the materials within the lips.

ANALYSIS

The goal of surgery is to make you happy. We will want to know your goals of lip enhancement, both in terms of the kind of look you would like to achieve as well as the kind of look you would like to avoid. We encourage you to bring photographs from magazines of lips that you really like so we can best visualize your goals.

The objective of surgery is a very natural result. Patients often fear that their lips will be too large or distorted in some way. Lip enhancement in younger patients is done to tastefully highlight the lips. Lip enhancement in older patients is done primarily to restore fullness and shape to the lips that has been lost over time. There has been many examples in the media of women whose lips have been drastically “overdone,” resulting in a comical rather than a beautiful appearance. This effect is almost always the result of over-aggressive treatment by the surgeon. We specifically avoid any form of lip overcorrection. That kind of unnatural and “overdone” look is totally contrary to our artistic goals and treatment objectives.

Following the analysis we will present to you a recommendation for lip enhancement. We will discuss the procedure with you and also advise you of the potential risks and complications of this procedure. We will outline your recovery period and make focused suggestions to make your surgery experience safe, easy, and as pleasant as possible.

PROCEDURE

The tissue fillers are simply injected in the office. There is no specific preparation necessay for the treatment.

The fat-injection surgery usually takes between ½ to 1 hours to perform depending on the amount of work to be done. The donor fat material is usually harvested from the abdomen with a very special liposuction instrument. The fat is then washed, compacted, and then reinjected in to lips and tissues surrounding the lips. Because it is so easy to harvest the fat, we typically obtain several additional syringes of fat and then freeze the fat for later injection into the lips [usually 3-6 months later]. This second injection of fat is easily performed under local anesthesia in the office exam rooms [is not a surgical procedure].

AFTERCARE

Recovery from chin enhancement surgery is usually very rapid.

Discomfort is minimal. There is usually moderate swelling in the area for 3-5 days. Most of the swelling is gone by 1 week. All of the swelling is gone by 3 weeks. You will apply ice compresses frequently during these first few days after surgery. You will look “good” in only one week, and “great” in one month.