If your eyes are the window to your soul, then lips are the front door. We speak through it. We emote with it. We express attraction, affection and wonder with a twist, pucker or pinch. This soft sensory organ is one of the most prominent features of your face. Just a small change can go a long way to add beauty and youth.
So are lip fillers right for you?
Lip fillers change your face gently, naturally and reversibly, and there are many reasons to want fuller lips. They can balance the rest of the features of your face. As you grow older, your lips will appear thinner. Maybe you’ve always had thinner lips than you’d like, or they have an asymmetrical shape.
It could be you’re just dying to have your own bountiful kissers after seeing celebrities online, in films or on television. Whatever your reasons, they’re yours, and they’re good enough.
But you might be wondering how they feel, or what your lip filler results will look like. You might just need a reason to take the last step and give lip filler a try.
Well, here are 12 of them. We would love to talk to you about any questions or concerns you have about your lips—even alternatives to lip fillers, if that’s what you’re looking for. Just send W Cosmetic Surgery an email.
1. You won’t look like Angelina Jolie.
Unless you look like her to begin with. Fillers, when used correctly, can accentuate and enhance the beauty and lost youth of your lips. It is impossible to create a lip that didn’t exist because much depends on the underlying muscular and mucosal anatomy, and on dental relationships.
2. You won’t look like Lisa Rinna.
Natural is the way we want to go. Lip fillers that are permanent (made of Gortex or silicone) are not how we roll.
3. Your lips will look better.
There aren’t a pair of lips that wouldn’t benefit from lip gloss; likewise, there aren’t a pair of lips where a bit of filler couldn’t beautify.
4. It doesn’t hurt.
We see lots of patients who have been elsewhere, and they describe the lip injections as the most excruciating and terrifying in-office experience of their lives. We don’t believe in that, so we perform a dental block that makes you comfortable for the procedure. We attempt to make the dental block painless using pretopical anesthetics and vibrational anesthesia, a topic we’ve published on.
Before & After Lip Filler
5. Bruising is possible, but you can prevent it.
Avoid blood thinners, such as Aspirin, Ibuprofen and Fish oil if your PCP allows it. This reduces your chance of bruising. Avoid aspirin and fish oil for two weeks. Refrain from ibuprofen, Motrin, Aleve, and other NSAIIDs for five to seven days. We also recommend taking arnica before the procedure. After the procedure, we suggest arnica orally. We have a topical preparation that we can give you if you get a bruise while we are treating you. The topical medication is about 60 times more powerful than the oral version. We also have a laser and a healing light that we can use to treat your bruising that can diminish the duration of the bruise by about four days. We have published on the use of lasers and healing lights. Finally, we have makeup that can cover just about anything.
6. The effects of the filler are immediate.
There is an instant WOW phenomenon when you see your lips after the procedure. As the numbing medicine wears off (see # 3 above), it starts to look better and better. We’ve had patients look at themselves in the car mirror to watch their lips as the anesthetic goes away, and they have car accidents, so we instruct patients not to look once out of the office until they get home!
7. You won’t look like a trout after 48 hours.
Allow at least 48 hours for the swelling to go down. We say that about 30% of what you see will go away.
8. You can get lip fillers, even if you’re prone to cold sores.
We pretreat everyone with antivirals and keep them on them for 3 days afterwards. This lessens the possibility of developing a cold sore after a needle to the lip.
9. You won’t have to go to the dentist for at least three weeks.
Schedule your lip injections carefully if you are planning on dental work. We suggest allowing a period of at least three weeks between dental work and the filler injections.
10. A little can go a long way.
If you’re afraid, start small. We suggest a minimal injection to enhance certain areas. It won’t hurt, and it will make your lips stand out dramatically and appear more youthful. We can always do more later.
11. Your lips will feel like your lips.
You should experience no change in sensation after the lips are injected. They should be just as kissable, if not more so, after things have settled.
12. If you don’t like it, we can dissolve it.
If you are not happy with the injections once they have settled, there is an enzyme which we have in the office that can remove the filler instantaneously. It rarely needs to be repeated around the lip. For our patients we have done this exactly once in sixteen years. This isn’t something you should expect. Most people are pleased with their results, and some are over the moon!
Before & After Lip Filler
