The Science of Lip Augmentation: Achieving Fuller, Natural Lips

"Adding enhancement to thinner, smaller lips requires specialized training to achieve natural results, as even a single needle mistake or overfilling lips can cause botched lips or bee-stung pout!"

·       Did you know it requires utmost precision, skill sets, and experience to perform lip augmentation correctly?

·       Did you know bruising is one of the most common complications that may occur when lip fillers are not administered correctly and puncture the larger blood vessels within the lips?

·       Did you know it is crucial to follow aftercare measures, as suggested by your plastic surgeon, to avoid the chances of lip filler migration?

·       Did you know fat transfer lip augmentation (autologous fat transfer) can offer a long-lasting, natural plumping effect involving fat removal from the patient's body part and injecting it into your lips?

Adding volume to the lips and defining contour requires either surgical or nonsurgical options, as the final technique/method, material, or alternative selection is wholly based on the patient's problem status, anatomy, and desired goals, stated Dr. Karishma Kagodu (MS, MCh), a board-certified, celebrity plastic surgeon and head of Kaesthetics, Indiranagar, Bangalore.

What is Lip Augmentation?

Lip augmentation is an in-office cosmetic procedure that adds volume to thinner or aged lips, creating a more youthful lip appearance. Lip augmentation is either done by a nonsurgical method using lip fillers or a surgical procedure involving a small incision in your lips or face for a long-lasting, permanent effect. Thus, lip augmentation is done to correct ageing concerns, including volume loss, enhance facial aesthetics, improve the lip contour, smooth the wrinkles in your lip area and restore your self-confidence.

What are the Different Techniques for Lip Augmentation?

The lip augmentation procedure uses a variety of techniques or materials. It can be done surgically and non-surgically to improve the lips' shape, size, contour, and overall appearance.

Lip Augmentation Techniques:

1.    Dermal fillers: Various FDA-approved fillers are available to meet the volume need for your lips. Most used fillers are hyaluronic acid fillers, such as Juvéderm XC, Restylane, or Belotero, that are injected into the targeted areas to enhance the volume and contour of the lips. Choosing only a board-certified cosmetic surgeon for the filler job is advisable, as the procedure requires extreme precision and aesthetic sense to avoid the chances of lip filler migration. Only an experienced cosmetologist can administer the filler job in the right way, which requires the right injection site and quantity to meet the aesthetic goals of the treatment. Fillers are not a permanent solution; a patient may be required to visit the clinic every 6-12 months to maintain the contour effect.

2.    Fat grafting/ autologous fat transfer: Fat injections are the most natural, more permanent solution to your ageing lips, as the procedure not only meets the volume requirement of your thinner lips but also helps minimize fine lines and wrinkles above your lips and around the mouth. Fat transfer involves the elimination of fat from the patient's body areas, usually from the abdomen and thighs (donor areas) and injecting the same into the recipient areas (lips), followed by fat purification.

3.    Lip Implants: A plastic surgeon uses a prosthesis to enhance the lip contour. The procedure involves the insertion of implants into the lips through a small incision in each corner of the mouth.

4.    Lip lift/ flip: Lip lift surgery removes a tiny amount of skin to correct upper lip thinness and lifts the lip towards the nose to achieve a beautiful upper lip pout. Moreover, lip lift is a great option for older patients with noticeable, increased length between the base of their nose and their upper lip. Thus, it is the best option to achieve a youthful lip appearance.

What are Popular Lip Filler Options?

The most used fillers are FDA-approved hyaluronic acid fillers (HA) because hyaluronic acid is a natural substance found in the body that causes plumping and hydrating/rejuvenating effects on your skin. HA fillers are soft, gel-like substances, giving a temporary result lasting between 6-12 months or longer based on your body's response against the chosen filler. Most FDA-approved hyaluronic acid fillers are infused with lidocaine, which can numb your skin to help reduce discomfort during and post-treatment.

FDA-approved hyaluronic acid fillers are:

·       Restylane®

·       Juvéderm®

·       Belotero Balance

·       Revanesse Versa

·       The RHA collection: RHA 2, RHA 3, and RHA 4

How to Address Concerns about Overfilling and Achieving Natural-looking Results?

1.    Choose only an expert cosmetic surgeon: The only way to avoid botched lip fillers is to choose an experienced, well-trained, and reputable plastic surgeon. Since the lip filler job is a very précised task, it requires utmost attention, care, and perfection on the part of your cosmetic surgeon, as even a point mistake to the injection site can cause going lip filler wrong or filler migration, resulting in punctured larger blood vessels within the lips and a considerable degree of bruising and hematoma (firm mass under the skin) develops.

2.    Choose only a licensed/ accredited centre: Due to social media ad runs and selfie syndrome, too many paid influencers, and too many lip fillers around you, it becomes almost a difficult task to choose regardless of promotion and ad. However, people get suckered by the botched lip fillers from a beauty salon or an inexperienced, novice provider. Moreover, you can contract infection if the treatment theatre does not meet the hygienic standard and has an untidy clinical environment. Indications of lip filler infection include swelling, itching or redness, pain, and prolonged discomfort. Thus, doing your research first and trusting only a licensed cosmetic centre is inevitable. Dr. Karishma Aesthetics uses only FDA-approved fillers and international-level hygienic standards, ensuring the best natural results without risks or discomforts.

3.    You need to adhere to the post-treatment instructions strictly: It is an inevitable task to attend all the post-up visits and follow all the instructions as suggested by your cosmetic surgeon. So, following the crucial aftercare instructions is in your best interest to avoid the unwanted chances of lip filler migration.

Following are the aftercare instructions as suggested by Dr. Karishma Kagodu to heal smoothly and optimize your results:

·       Eating soft foods during the initial days of recovery

·       Elevating your head during sleep

·       Avoid moving lips unnecessarily during the healing period.

·       Use an ice pack on your treatment areas for several days.

4.    Expert cosmetic surgeons can fix botched lip fillers: If you have had bad lip fillers, schedule an appointment with a board-certified plastic surgeon like Dr. Karishma, who has experience in lip correction procedures.

Dr. Karishma may recommend one of the following options to correct botched lip fillers based on your problem status:

·       Massaging the lips to address lumpiness and ensure even dispersal of the filler.

·       Dissolving the original lip fillers.

Or,

·       Waiting for the product to dissolve naturally over time (If the only option).

If you want to know more about lip fillers or are seeking lip augmentation surgery in Bangalore, call us at +91 8042036382, +91 9108969006, or +91 7624809006 to schedule an initial consultation and begin your journey to a youthful, contoured lip profile. Dr. Karishma Kagodu will help you decide which lip enhancement procedure is right for your lips and goals.