Ideals of beauty achieved with lip enlargement vary with emerging fashion trends, influence of the media and the ethnicity of the individual. Over the past decades fuller lips have been considered a desirable trait. Even if we factor out certain extremes the presence of full pouting lips is overwhelming in movie stars and fashion models of the non anorexic variety. While some of it is genetic, others have had significant help in the form of lip enlargement to achieve this look.
Lip enlargement to achieve a fuller look and more “pouting” is thus a common request. The upper lip usually dominates the discussion. However it needs to be taken into account that in an ideal canon of beauty the upper and lower lips have to remain in balance with respect to fullness, usually keeping a 1:1.6 ratio with the lower lip being fuller than the upper lip. This relationship should be maintained after lip enlargement.
Depending on the type of material used for lip augmentation the effects can be intermediate, long lasting or permanent. It is my practice to avoid permanent materials in clients virgin to the procedure of lip augmentation and also stage the augmentation depending on how much fullness is desired and how well a material is tolerated.
Preferred materials are synthetic fillers, fat grafting, implants and tissues excised during face lifts or other facial cosmetic procedures. We use only hyaluronic acid based fillers (well known trademarks are restylane or juvederm) in lips as they are the safest materials for this area with the least amount of possible complications when used for lip enlargement.
Fillers and fat grafting are performed as an outpatient procedure under local and regional anesthesia, similar to dental procedures. The effect is immediate and there is no social or professional downtime involved, unless the client makes a living with contact sports or similar. Exercise is avoided for 2-3 days and massage of the lips is often advised immediately after lip enlargement if fillers are used.
Implants for lip enlargement can also be inserted on an outpatient basis, if this is the only procedure the patient is having. Once insertion of a lip implant is performed in addition to other facial procedures the type of anesthetic and length of inpatient care is determined by the most complex and extensive procedure performed, but rarely exceeds an overnight stay.
Use of tissue strips for lip augmentation is incidental to another procedure such as a face lift, which provides the strips, e. g. SMAS removed in the course of a face lift.
Lip enlargement provides a high satisfaction rate for clients from Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Miami, New York, London and Toronto.