Lip Fills Improve Looks, But Not All Lip Fillers Are Safe

Lip augmentation, the process of injecting the lips and area around the lips with dermal filler, is being more frequently requested in the doctor’s office.

Patients seek lip augmentation because they want larger, sexier lips, and, also, they want to decrease or reduce the signs of aging.

Injectable dermal fillers can combat thinness and wrinkling of the lips and mouth, but not all dermal fillers are safe for use in the lip and mouth area.

There are many injectable fillers on the market today, with the newest technology being fillers made of hyaluronic acid, which is a naturally occuring acid in the body. The hyaluronic acid based fillers are often more pliable and easier to place in the skin, giving a more natural appearance.

When considering a mouth/lip rejuvenation procedure, it’s best to consider a treatment course which will address the inner lip, the edge of the lip, and the outer mouth (where laugh lines might appear). While all fillers could work in these areas, some are going to perform better than others, depending on the areas of treatment.

Semi-permanent dermal fillers are going to work best around the mouth and along the lip line. These work to reshape the edges of the lips, and will fill in wrinkles and laugh lines. However, when semi-permanent fillers are injected into the lips, patients may experience a higher chance of lumps and clumping, which are both unsightly, and can be painful.

(Semi-permanent dermal fillers can last between 12-24 months, so you might be walking around with that bump in your lip for a very, very long time…..)

However, as I mentioned, the current preferred dermal filler for the lip area is hyaluronic acid, which tends to last about 3-6 months. This is the current gold standard for this type of procedure, and is more cost effective than collagen, which has also been used for lip rejuvenation.

The focus of lip rejuvenation should be to restore a youthful appearance, not to overfill the lips or make them very noticeable.

If you are aged 35-64 and are noticing wrinkles around your mouth, you may be a good candidate for a hyaluronic acid lip rejuvenation procedure. The only possible downside? You will need to repeat the procedure every few months to maintain the same benefit.