Today, both men and women are looking for options to remedy thin, lined lips. Whether you have flat or wrinkled lips or you just believe that a plumper pout is more desirable—fillers can help you achieve smooth, voluptuous lips.
In this post, we’ll detail the different options for lip fillers, how they differ, and what you can expect from each.
JUVÉDERM®
JUVÉDERM® has a line of hyaluronic acid fillers that help reverse the signs of aging in the face. JUVÉDERM® Volbella® XC and JUVÉDERM® Ultra XC are considered ideal dermal fillers for lip injections.
Both fillers are crystal-clear gels that include lidocaine. The lidocaine in the gel improves your comfort during the injection by reducing your sensitivity to pain. Though both treatments improve lip plumpness and fullness, JUVÉDERM Volbella XC also helps smooth the appearance of lines around the mouth, minimizing the signs of aging and improving lip symmetry. These injectables can last up to 1 year with optimal treatment.
Common side effects may include:
- Tenderness
- Swelling
- Firmness
- Lumps or bumps
- Bruising
These treatments require little to no downtime, but most surgeons suggest refraining from exposing yourself to sunlight, drinking alcohol, or putting makeup on for at least 24 hours after your injections.
Restylane®
Restylane® Silk plumps up the lips and smoothes wrinkles around the mouth (also known as perioral lines). This injectable is explicitly designed to provide natural-looking results in your lips and vertical lines above the lip by using smaller and smoother filler particles.
The results of this treatment can last between 10 and 12 months. Restylane Silk injections typically take 20 to 30 minutes, depending on individual needs. This treatment is perfect for delivering subtle volume to the lips while improving the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the mouth. Injectable treatments with Restylane Silk create shapely, youthful, and plump lips that appear and feel completely authentic.
Common side effects may include:
- Lip swelling at the injection site
- Lip pain
- Bruising
- Tenderness
- Itching
Side effects may persist for a few days following the treatment. It can take a few days for patients to see the full results from the procedure, though some have seen instant results directly following the treatment.
Fat Transfer
Fat transfer lip augmentation enhances the size, fullness, symmetry, and texture of the lips using your own unwanted body fat. A more natural alternative to injectable fillers, fat transfer involves surgical liposuction and is typically performed as an outpatient procedure. The average procedure time takes about 1 to 2 hours; you may be put under general or local anesthesia, depending on where the unwanted fat is taken.
For the liposuction portion of the procedure, the fat is removed from places such as the belly, thighs, or hips. It’s then purified using a centrifuge to separate fat cells. Once this is done, the cells are carefully injected into the lips.
Side effects may include:
- Bruising
- Stiffness
- Chapped lips
The recovery process after this procedure is longer than with nonsurgical injectables as you’re healing from both the liposuction and the fat grafting procedure to your lips. It could take 1 to 2 weeks before you feel ready to return to work.
After you are healed, the fat improves the appearance of your lips by adding structure and fullness. Though the recovery time is longer, fat transfer injections yield longer-lasting results than dermal fillers. Fat transfer lip augmentation may require more than one treatment to produce the desired effects.
To find out if you are a good candidate for lip fillers or other lip augmentation options, request a consultation or call us at (859) 277-9435 to schedule an appointment.
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