Lip augmentation, a cosmetic surgery procedure that improves the size and appearance of lips, has become popular due to increased availability, efficiency, and affordability. Procedures include lip implants, injections, and fat transfer. Side effects include swelling, bruising, and allergic reactions. The quality of the procedure is determined by the practitioner’s experience.
Also referred to as a cheiloplasty, lip augmentation is a cosmetic surgery procedure that improves the size and appearance of the lips. Over the past decade, lip augmentation has become a popular procedure in plastic surgery due to its increased availability, efficiency, and affordability. Celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Pamela Anderson, and Jennifer Garner have popularized the full lip look, prompting many women in particular to seek out lip augmentation as a means to achieve a “bee-spotted” pout. While there are topical creams and lip glosses available that claim to increase the size of the lip through swelling or other means, lip augmentation generally refers to a result achieved through procedures such as lip implants or lip injections.
In the 1980s, bovine collagen was often injected into the lips as a cosmetic filler to achieve temporary lip augmentation. Today, products like Restylane® and Juvederm®, which contain hyaluronic acid, have become popular fillers for lip augmentation injections, with temporary results lasting for about six months. Fat transfer, in which a portion of the patient’s fat is removed via liposuction from an area of the body and then implanted into the lips, is another popular procedure for lip augmentation. The results of a fat transfer procedure typically last longer than those of injectable lip augmentation; however, they also require general anesthesia rather than simple topical anesthesia and are more prone to producing lip lumps or scarring.
Bruising and swelling are expected after a lip augmentation procedure and generally last up to a week. Some of the side effects of lip augmentation procedures include itching, redness, bleeding, lumpy or bumpy lips, as well as ridges on the lips if not enough filler is injected. Allergic reactions to the anesthetics or fillers used in lip augmentation procedures can also occur, and patients should have skin tests prior to the procedures. Ideal candidates for lip augmentation include patients free from cold sores, infections, diabetes, lupus, high blood pressure, and facial nerve disorders. Smokers also face a slower healing process following a lip augmentation procedure.
While lip augmentation procedures used to be available only in hospitals and private practices, today they are readily available in walk-in clinics and shopping malls, along with many other cosmetic surgery procedures. This increase in the availability of cosmetic procedures is part of the “Botox lunch” phenomenon, which refers to cosmetic surgery procedures that are so efficient that they can be performed during one’s lunch hour, after which the patient can return to normal daily activities. Regardless of the site for lip augmentation, the quality of the procedure is primarily determined by the experience of the practitioner. Several years of experience are required for a professional to master the lip augmentation filler injection technique.
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