If you hear the words ‘lip injections’ and think ‘duck lips’, you’re not alone. All it takes is seeing one bad over-the-top lip job on reality TV for people to swear off injectables for life. But trust me when I say you have seen a lot more ‘done’ lips than you realize – because when they’re done well, lip fillers appear totally natural and of course, totally beautiful.
Fuller, Plumper Lips in Minutes –And More!
Believe it or not, ‘plump’ lips are not the main reason why people get injections (although it’s certainly a benefit). Most of our patients actually don’t want large lips at all. You’ll find that shape is actually more important than size. To understand why, let’s take a look at what makes your lips look old.
Lips are one of the first places where we show our age. As you grow older, lips lose volume and body. You can see this in the lips of elderly ladies; they’re often quite thin, or at least, much thinner than the lips of teenagers.
Second, you lose your philantral columns (the two parallel columns of tissue between your nose and your upper lip that give the upper lip its distinctive ‘m-like’ shape) as you age. As these columns of tissue break down, your upper lip loses its distinctive ‘Cupid’s Bow’ and becomes flat across the top.
Thirdly, because you are losing volume in the body of your lips, you begin to get little vertical lines around the outside of your lips, which are commonly referred to as ‘smokers’ lines’. Charming name, right? You can picture these lines like what a balloon gets on its surface as it deflates.
Lastly, we lose volume under the corners of our mouths. This loss of support leads to the outside corners of the mouth turning down, giving lips a ‘sad clown’ or drooping appearance.
As you can see, when our lips start to look ‘old’, it’s not simply about having full lips. Getting the shape is essential to creating a youthful appearance. Juvederm can plump the lip, lift up the corners of the mouth, and fill in smokers’ lines without the dreaded ‘duck lip’ look. Remember – when it comes to fillers in the lips, less is more!
Filler in the Lips: Rumors vs Truth
Rumor 1: If my lips turn out bad, there’s nothing I can do to fix it.
It is true that some fillers (such as Sculptra and Radiesse) take a year or two to break down, so until that day comes, you might be stuck with your results. But if you use a hyaluronic acid filler (like Juvederm, Vobella and Voluma) the results will look very natural. If you really don’t love the look for some reason, there is an eraser enzyme called hyaluronidase which can immediately dissolve the filler. As soon as the swelling goes down, your lips will be back to normal.
Rumor 2: Lip fillers stretch your lips out. Once you start getting the treatment, you’ll have to continue forever or else your lips will deflate and sag.
This is not even slightly true. You can stop cold turkey and never look back and never regret it – and here’s why: Injecting hyaluronic acid (a substance that naturally exists in our bodies) filler into the skin actually stimulates collagen production. Even after your body’s natural enzymes start to dissolve the filler over the course of the next six months to a year, what’s left over actually thickens your skin’s dermis (the outermost layer you want to stay thick and healthy in order to prevent fine lines and wrinkles).
Rumor 3: I already have a round face. Fillers will just make me puffy.
This sounds like a logical concern, but we use fillers to target specific areas of your face (like your cheekbones) to give definition to a rounder face and enhance natural features. It’s like contouring with makeup, except it’s done underneath the skin with fillers, which is why enhancement fillers are common for people who want that chiseled look without having to wear any makeup.
Rumor 4: Lip injections are only for people with thin lips.
Although adding volume is a common request, a lot of people are looking more for shape and definition than size when it comes to lips. Filler can be used to adjust undefined Cupid’s bows, asymmetry, disproportionate top and bottom lips, turned down corners, or dry, cracked lips (which appear glossier with fillers). They’re also useful to correct fine lines around the lips, or lift the downturned corners of the mouth.
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