Full lips are a marker of youth and beauty. As we age, however, our lips tend to become thinner and flatter. Mount Sinai’s Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery team offers both temporary and permanent solutions to help you achieve natural-looking, voluminous lips.
“The lips are an important part of our body—they are an area of sensuality and communication. When someone looks at you, they tend to be drawn to the eyes and the lips,” says Noah B. Sands, MD, who is a Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery physician at Mount Sinai. “Our goal is to work with patients to help them find the right enhancement option and achieve their goals.”
What are lip enhancements?
The lips may look different from the rest of the body, but they are actually a thinner, more delicate type of skin. The same way skin wrinkles over time, the lips slowly lose their pillowy appearance as they produce less collagen. Lip enhancements are cosmetic procedures that augment the shape of the lips and the goal is to:
- Plump up thin or flat lips
- Redefine and enhance lip shape
- Reduce vertical wrinkle lines that develop above the lip
- Restore balance between asymmetrical lips
What enhancement procedures are available to patients?
The most common procedure is a temporary cosmetic injectable. These dermal fillers are gel-like substances that are injected into the lips to create volume. Juvéderm and Restylane, two common brands of dermal fillers, are generally well tolerated by patients because they are made of hyaluronic acid—a naturally occurring substance in the body. The effects of this procedure lasts for about one year.
If you are seeking a permanent solution, a plastic or silicone implant can be used to plump up the lips. A less popular implant choice, is a fat implant. This permanent option involves taking tissue from the belly or thigh and injecting it into the lip. Keep in mind that fat implants are typically not a standalone procedure. They are generally used when a patient is augmenting other areas of the face such as volumizing the cheeks or filling in wrinkles under the eyes.
If your goal is to define your lip shape, a lip lift is an appropriate option. This technique is used to emphasize the border of the lip, giving it a tighter and more defined shape. Additionally, lip reductions are available for patients who would like to de-emphasize their lips.
How do I know which lip enhancement is best for me?
Your surgeon should work closely with you to select the procedure that best meets your needs. However, when patients are unsure, Dr. Sands advises them to be conservative.
“Patients tend to have a fairly strong reaction to lip enhancements at first,” he explains. “I often advise to start with a temporary filler so they get a sense of what the modification will look like and then decide if they want something permanent.”
One of the benefits of fillers is that they are temporary and changeable. If patients are not satisfied with the result, it can be tweaked or even reversed entirely in the same visit. The filler can also be inserted gradually over several appointments.
“There is a misconception that fillers look ‘done’ or will cause a duck lip appearance,” says Dr. Sands. “If the filler is applied and balanced right, it will look like an inconspicuous, natural enhancement.”
When biological materials are used, Dr. Sands says lip enhancements tend to have a more natural look. Lip implants, which use synthetic material, often appear less natural and the texture of the lip itself may also feel different.
There are limits, however, to what fillers can do. “Sometimes patients have asymmetries that can be corrected with fillers but they cannot reshape the lip,” says Dr. Sands. “The lips will also only tolerate so much filler product without looking unnatural.”
How long will it take for the procedure to heal?
Many patients who come to Dr. Sands have had Botox or fillers in other areas of the face. But the lips, he warns, may feel a little different. Since the lips are a very vascular area of the body, they tend to bruise more.
“The results are immediate, but it generally takes a week for the swelling to settle,” says Dr. Sands. “Patients can return to work that day but it is best to schedule the procedure for a time where they do not have a lot of meetings, and at least one week before a major event.”
Noah B. Sands, MD