You don’t have to be born with full lips to have them. Fuller, more sensuous lips are now easily attainable. Aging can cause the lips to thin and flatten out. The aging process often results in excess thinning of the red portion of the upper lip where women wear lipstick along with a visible lengthening of the distance from the base of the nose to the lip border.
This patient had Alloderm acellular sheets of collagen placed in both upper and lower lips. At more than a year after surgery the augmentaion was still visible.
Read Dr. Stone’s blog about lip augmentation surgeryLip Augmentation – How to make the lips fuller or bigger
Lip augmentation can enhance your appearance and your self confidence. Realistic expectations are important to be happy with any surgery. As each patient is an individual, different results can be expected in each patient.
Alternatives
There are a variety of techniques available to address this ranging from injectable fillers to surgical placement of acellular sheets of collagen or placement of fat/fascia harvested from elsewhere on the body. For a short while silicone lip implants (not injections) were popular but fell out of favor because the implants tended to poke out due to constant movement. In the distant past silicone injections were popular but fell out of favor due to silicone migration and granuloma nodule formation. Each modality has its own advantages and disadvantages. Almost all of the currently available inectable fillers are not permanent. The acellular sheets may be at least partially permanent in some patients. Although injectable fillers are a less costly approach with a very short recovery time they have a tendency to gather into lumps when placed in the lipstick bearing area of the lip. That is because this area of the lip does not have actual skin architecture. The FDA originally only approved injectables for the margin between the lip and skin not for area where lipstick is worn.
Risks
As with any type of surgery there is the risk of infection or bleeding. Infection can melt grafts or force the implants if any have been placed to extrude. Bruising may occur anywhere an injection or incision is made and can last about a week. The lips swell for a day or 2 after injection and a week or longer after surgery and may look over corrected during this time. The swelling may resolve asymmetrically causing a temporary uneven look. Any injections can form lumps especially with lip movements that push the material into aggregated lumps. Temporary or permanent loss of lip sensation may occur.
The survival rate of your own tissue such as fat or fascia used to enlarge your lips can be uneven or unpredictable.
Benefits
The benefits are fuller more youthful lips and in older people removal of the crevices on areas of the lip where lipstick is applied.
Recovery
The recovery is highly variable for the different modalities. Dermal filler injections swell for a day or so and most patients resume all normal and social activities within a day. Surgical introduction of fat or fascia require a longer recovery of about a week.
Ice compresses are usually not required for injectable fillers and are not advised when fat or fascia grafts are used as they may decrease the survival rate of the tissue.
The head is kept elevated, no lying flat or head down position for 1 week.
Dr. Aaron Stone
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9700 Venice BlvdCulver City, Los Angeles,CA 90232
Many people who are interested in Plastic Surgery decide not to seek treatment because of the prices associated with cosmetic plastic surgery. What they may not know is that financing plans can help manage the costs and bring cosmetic surgery within the reach of nearly every budget.Many patients choose their cosmetic surgeon based on prices for plastic surgery rather than credentials. It is important to thoroughly research your doctor to ensure that he or she has the requisite training, experience, and facility. Making sure you get the results you desire the first time around could mean lower cosmetic surgery costs in the long run. Choosing an inexperienced surgeon could jeopardize your safety and result in health problems or the need for follow-up surgeries.Dr. Stone offers patients a range of payment options to help cover plastic surgery costs, including cash, check, and credit cards. In addition, he offers plastic surgery financing plans to help patients set up an affordable payment schedule by breaking up the costs of Plastic Surgery treatment into affordable monthly payments through
You can finance 100% of your cosmetic surgery and select the plan that works best for your budget. There are no upfront costs, no annual fees, and no pre-payment penalties. So, you can schedule your procedure today and conveniently pay with low, monthly payments. Many of Dr. Stone’s patients use the financing option and their is no stigma attached to doing so. Everyone is treated equally regardless of whether their procedure is paid by financing, up front cash or credit card. We encourage all prospective patients to feel free to discuss financing options during their office consultation.Please remember not to choose your cosmetic surgeon based solely on prices for plastic surgery rather than credentials. It is important to thoroughly research your doctor to ensure that he or she has the requisite training, experience, and facility. In addition you should feel comfortable with the Plastic Surgeon you choose. This is important because should any problems arise after surgery you need to feel you can easily call and speak with your surgeon to treat any such problems as quickly as possible. Having a good surgeon that intimidates you or that you feel uncomfortable speaking with does not help the situation. Making sure you get the results you desire the first time around could mean lower cosmetic surgery costs in the long run. Choosing an inexperienced surgeon could jeopardize your safety and result in health problems or the need for follow-up surgeries.
