Lip Enhancement

When someone asks me what my favorite treatment to do in my practice is, I always tell them “It’s lip enhancement”. The lips are probably the most age defining feature of the face. Soft, smooth, slightly full lips with perfect proportions and crisp definition are a sign of youth and beauty. Some people never have lips that they think look beautiful. Maybe their upper lip is too thin, or the shape is poorly defined. For others, age and time rob them of their full, youthful lips. I love to give my patients the lip they really want.

Many things need to be considered when looking at someone and determining what would look best for them and their unique beauty. I spend quite a bit of time with each patient discussing their lips and what I can do to perfectly enhance them without looking overdone. Creating “natural-looking” lips is my specialty.

Factors such as age, gender, facial shape, ethnicity, body size and even personality are all things to consider when deciding on a lip enhancement plan. Do you pucker your lips when you speak? Do your gums show too much when you smile? Do fine lines above your lips, the dreaded “bar code”, make you feel old? Do you want a very subtle change, or a more noticeable, fuller lip appearance?

Usually, a single syringe of dermal filler, such as Restylane Kysse, will produce beautiful results. For some, however, adding a small amount of a neuromodulator, such as Botox, Dysport or Xeomin, creates “lip flip” which relaxes muscles that cause skin puckering above the lips. Similarly, neuromodulators injected slightly higher correct a gummy smile. Age often results in a loss of fat in the areas below the mouth that act to support the lips, causing the lips to appear turned down. Here an additional bit of filer acts as scaffolding in this area. Sometimes, however, the fine lines are actually etched in like little scars and require treatments to “remodel” the skin. Treatments using microneedling or radiofrequency can help.

There is no one “cookie cutter” fix to improving this area. My approach is to decide what the issues concerning each patient are and set up a treatment plan to give them the results they really want.

Very often a patient is more concerned about having to endure pain than the actual results. I take as much time as is needed to numb the area being injected. This results in the patient being completely relaxed and comfortable and I am not forced to rush “just to get it over with”. The end result is beautiful lips achieved comfortably with the patient saying,” I love the way my lips look, and I didn’t feel a thing!”