Lip Augmentation Using Juvéderm® on a 34YO Female Patient

Lip Augmentation Technique

Lip augmentation is requested for many reasons. Some patients want a natural and conservative fullness to augment some of the volume that they have lost with age. Some patients want extremely full lips that are often “unnatural” but conform with some of the beauty statements of the time.

My techniques can accommodate both types of patients. This begins with a conversation about exactly what the patient is trying to achieve.

The normal anatomy of the lip :

• well defined cupids bow in the upper lip
• slight upturn to the center of the upper lip
• lower lip is in general larger than the upper lip
• well defined philtral columns between the nose and the lip

Aging of the lips :

The pink lip and the volume of the lip above and below decrease with age. This leads to the appearance that the lip is thinning ( old lady lips ) and lead to the wrinkling of the skin above and below the outlines of the lip as the tissue is allowed to accordian and fold on itself. Some people attribute this to smoking or pursing the lips too much, but is is in reality a result of the loss of volume in and around the lips.

Treatment :

Lip augmentation can replace the lost volume to give a more youthful appearance to the lip. This can be performed “naturally” and conservatively but precisely replacing the volume that was lost. Or we can exaggerate the appearance of the lip IF the patient wants to.

Technique :

My technique varies from that of many practitioners and instructors. I try to use a single stick technique if at all possible. This technique results in significantly less bruising and swelling; allowing most patients to return to work immediately. Conservative replacement requires conservative placement in the pink portion of the lip as well as replacing volume above the lip around the philtrum in order to rotate the lips slightly upward; as well as do decrease the potential of vertical lines around the lip. Volume replacement, as I mentioned is a personal statement. I can, depending on the patients wishes, exaggerate the placement by giving extra full lips at the patient’s request.

Most patients will want Juvederm or Voluma as the injectable filler, but some patients that need more significant volumes will benefit from fat transfer to use their own fat as the filler material