Lip Enhancement
Your lips have a lot to say, even when you aren’t talking. Full, plump lips can give you a more youthful, sensual appearance. Thin lips or wrinkles around the mouth can make you look older, more tired, and stern. But what’s the best lip plumper? How do you know that lip augmentation will give you a pretty pout — and not a trout pout? Lip fillers have come a long way, and with the latest hyaluronic lip injections and the aesthetic expertise of a professional like Dr. Tang, you can get lip enhancement that will make you smile. Read on to learn all about lip augmentation.
Why Get Lip Augmentation?
Lip enhancement procedures are performed to enhance the appearance of the lips. Lips attract attention, and with careful lip injections, the volume, pout, and definition of the lips can be improved. Lip augmentation can also help reduce the appearance of vertical wrinkles around the lips (sometimes called “smoker’s lines,” though these occur from pursing lips and so don’t just affect smokers). These vertical wrinkles develop with age and use — pursing your lips, sipping from straws, and so on — often causing lipstick to run, and aging your face. While more mature women often look to lip plumpers to achieve a younger, natural look, younger women who aren’t concerned with wrinkles often opt for lip enhancement, too. If you’ve got thin lips, or simply want a more defined shape, there are plenty of nonsurgical options available for getting full, sexy lips.
A Quick Anatomy Lesson
Lips are unique to each individual, and so if you’re thinking about lip enhancement, you need to work with a cosmetic surgeon like Dr. Tang. Lip augmentation isn’t about just plumping your lips all over. Balance, symmetry, and proportion are important. Lip enhancement should work harmoniously with your own lip anatomy, as well as with your other features.
These photos show some of the different ways that lips can be enhanced. You can see right away that they aren’t all the same, and they certainly are not just puffier all around. Careful, skilled injections can help ensure that your lips look natural rather than overdone.
Fillers for Fuller, Plumper Lips
If you’re interested in lip enhancement, hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers are your best option. They are safe, nonpermanent, predictable, and can be reversed if you decide you don’t like the way they look. There are five primary options when it comes to hyaluronic acid fillers: Restylane, Restylane Kysse, Volbella, and Juvéderm Ultra and Juvederm UltraPlus. Restylane Kysse and Volbella tend to last longer than Restylane and Juvéderm Ultra, while some patients also say that may feel softer as well. Patients who want more subtle changes often will be injected with Volbella. To find which lip filler near me would work the best please book a consultation with Dr. Tang at Rejuvé, so he can help determine which will be the best. Here is some other important information about lip augmentation/lip fillers.
- Control over lip volume: The amount of the hyaluronic acid filler injected can be controlled, so Dr. Tang will have better control over how much lip volume is created.
- Gradual pace of treatment: Hyaluronic acid injections can be given gradually over the course of multiple appointments until the desired results are achieved. This change over time is subtler, and lets you decide exactly when you’re happy with your results.
- Bumps dissolve easily: If the movement of your lips creates any lumps or bumps beneath the surface, these can be usually massaged
- Less bruising: Hyaluronic acid fillers generally cause less bruising and swelling compared to other dermal fillers.
- Longer-lasting results: Though these lip fillers aren’t permanent, the results generally last for 6 months to a year. Because you use your lips every day (talking, eating, kissing!), your lips are always moving. This means that fillers will break down over time and be absorbed back into your body. There are different types of dermal fillers that have different durations. Dr. Tang can discuss these differences at your consultation.
- Allergic reactions are unlikely: Hyaluronic acid fillers are made from substances similar to those naturally found in your body, so they are unlikely to cause an allergic reaction. That said, if you have a lidocaine allergy, be sure to tell Dr. Tang.
There are other treatments that are used to plump lips, but these are riskier in terms of the results you can expect. Collagen used to be the most common dermal filler, but fell out of favor because of its short duration (lasting just 1 month) and had to be tested for possible allergies. Fat grafting is long lasting, but it can be unpredictable. Dr. Tang doesn’t recommend silicone, gortex, and other lip implants because these do not look natural over time. As your lips thin with age, the lip implant doesn’t, causing the lips to look overstuffed (“duck lips”). Below are celebrity before-and-after lip augmentation pictures that show the difference — Megan Fox’s lips look natural and fuller, while Lisa Rinna’s lips became an eyesore as her lips aged but her silicone did not.
Also, if you just want a temporary change — say you just want fuller lips for a special event — topical lip plumpers can give you a temporary boost. These will provide just a small amount of fullness, and will last hours at most.
Does lip augmentation hurt?
The lips are the most sensitive area to inject in the entire face, but there are many ways to prevent pain when injecting fillers. At Rejuvé, we use a very strong topical anesthetic that provides great anesthesia for most patients. If the topical is not sufficient however, we can provide an additional anesthetic similar to the procedure that dentists use to block pain. In addition, both Juvéderm and Restylane are now prepackaged with lidocaine, a local anesthetic, inside the syringe. This helps the procedure to be much more tolerable during the injection.
Is there bruising with lip injections?
Some patients may experience a small amount of bruising after lip injections, though this can be covered with lipstick.
How will my lips look after the injections?
Your lips will probably appear to be fuller than you want at first — again, it’s just swelling, and it generally resolves within 48-72 hours. In 3-7 days, you’ll be able to see your true results.
Can lip enhancement be combined with other treatments?
Yes! In fact, patients who are trying to eliminate “smoker’s lines” (vertical lines around the mouth) often get the best results by utilizing other treatments in conjunction with lip fillers. Depending upon the type of line, dermal fillers can be used to smooth out the area or lasers like the laser CO2, Fractora, or Ulthera can help to resurface the skin to improve the skin texture, build collagen in the skin, and smooth out the wrinkles around the mouth.
As mentioned, this type of wrinkle generally appears with age. A lifetime of pursing your lips makes this happen, as does sun damage, but in older women these are also the result of a surprising culprit: Estrogen deficiency. Understanding the underlying cause of wrinkles can help determine the best treatment to use, whether in conjunction with lip fillers or on their own. At Rejuvé, we’re committed to helping you bring out your most beautiful self from the inside out. Instead of just focusing on correcting external aesthetics, we want to be sure your health concerns are addressed. Dr. Tang can perform hormonal testing to find out estrogen deficiency may be behind your wrinkles, and help to balance your hormones with bio-identical hormone treatments. In addition, Rejuvé offers specialized compounded topical estrogen cream for the face. This cream, which is made from estriol (a form of estrogen known to be a breast cancer protectant) can soften existing lines and slow their progression. A one-on-one consultation with Dr. Tang can help you decide what will work best for you and get you the results you want.
How do I know I will get the best lip filler augmentation results? Dr. Tang and Alexandra Tang RN have been injecting lip fillers for lip enhancement near me since 2005. They have treated thousand of patients with fillers in particular the lips. They have been recognized as a Top Restylane 100 injectors in the US and Platinum Plus injectors by Allergan. To find out if you are a candidate for lip fillers or which fillers is best for you, please call Rejuvé at 408-750-5320 to schedule a consultation. Rejuvé is proud to offer the best lip filler near you to the San Jose Bay Area and the surrounding cities of Saratoga, Los Gatos, Campbell, Palo Alto, and Mountain View.