Nothing beats beautiful lips — with great proportion, volume and shape. Since your lips are one of your most prominent facial features, they can play a large role in how you look. Unfortunately, not everyone is born with great lips. And as you age, your lips can lose their fullness. Sun exposure or smoking can also create lines on and around your lips that add years to your appearance. So, what can you do to get your lips looking great?
With all the advancements in cosmetic procedures, there seems to be a treatment for anything that bothers you. Thankfully, your lips are no exception. Whatever your reason for wanting lip enhancement, there are several treatments available that offer a variety of results. The final goal of any procedure should be beautiful, natural-looking, kissable lips.
Lip Rejuvenation Techniques
There are many options for lip rejuvenation — ranging from spa-like services to cosmetic surgery. All this flexibility gives you a great chance to get the exact results you want. Just remember that choosing the right cosmetic specialist can make all the difference.
1. Lip Enhancement with Dermal Fillers
Dermal fillers are an ideal solution for increasing lip volume, reshaping lip edges and improving fine lip wrinkles. Filler injections are nonsurgical in-office procedures performed in just a few minutes with topical anesthesia and little downtime. Hyaluronic acid fillers (Restylane®, Juvederm®) are the most commonly used fillers for lip augmentation. They’re absorbable and reversible. Since fillers are temporary, they need to be redone every three to six months to maintain optimum results.
2. Lip Enhancement with Fat Transfer
Lip augmentation uses a process called fat transfer or fat grafting. Your cosmetic surgeon removes a small amount of your body’s fat and then injects it into your lips as a “natural” filler to create fuller, plumper lips. Fat transfer requires local anesthesia, and there’s a little more swelling and bruising than with dermal fillers. This technique provides permanent results for most people.
3. Lip Enhancement with a Lip Lift
A lip lift is a procedure performed on people who have a longer and flat upper lip. Injecting fillers into long and flat lips can create the “duck lips” appearance, or an overdone look. A lip lift can improve facial aging by revealing more of your upper teeth when you’re smiling. The procedure requires local anesthesia and involves a small cut under the base of the nose. The cut is hidden in natural creases beneath the nostrils, leaving no obvious scarring.
4. Perioral Peels
Medium and deep peels are great options to improve “lipstick lines” or “smoker’s lips.” They work by removing several layers of skin around the mouth and stimulating collagen production. This technique creates a permanent improvement of skin texture and lessens deep lines.
Lip Rejuvenation Recovery
Your recovery will depend on the procedure you have done. If you had fillers injected, you can go back to your normal activities instantly with absolutely no activity restrictions. Some bruising, swelling and discomfort are common but minimal. You should feel completely normal within a few days.
As you probably expect, surgical lip augmentation requires more downtime. You can usually get back to your daily activities within a few days. Swelling and discomfort are common for about a week or two, but medication can help.
