Aesthetica Cosmetic Surgery and Laser Center
Lip Augmentation
Loudoun – Fairfax – Northern Virginia
Loudoun - Fairfax - Northern Virginia
Lip Augmentation
Skin Rejuvenation and Anti-aging
The introduction of Juvederm and other cosmetic fillers has triggered a tidal wave of women asking to plump up their lips. Younger women often want to exaggerate the size of the average lip, whereas older women tend to want less than than is required to restore the average lip size. In this article, Dr. Chang will present his strategy for how to approach creating beautiful lips that are customized for your desires. He will describe the normal anatomy of the lip, the changes that come with age, the types of fillers that are available, and his technique for creating full sensual lips.
Everything You Need to Know About Lip Augmentation
From one of Northern Virginia’s Premier Plastic Surgeons For the Cosmetic Appearance of Your Lips
Duck Face
The start of a new trend in lip augmentation
Dr. Chang : Juvederm Lip Filler Leesburg, Virginia
In 2014, Oxford Dictionary added DUCK FACE to its On-line dictionary. According to them, Duck Face is a noun describing “an exaggerated pouting expression in which the lips are thrust outward, typically made by a person posing for a photograph”. They then go on by giving an example of how the phrase was used. “The pop star pursed her lips into a duck face” or “Don’t make that stupid duck face in your photos.”
You can easily substitute the name Kylie Jenner into the first sentence and you might understand how or why the discussion of bigger and poutier lips has come into the popular conversation. The sentence would then read, ” Kylie Jenner pursed her lips into a duck face” and the world responded. Reality television, social media, and a beautiful woman with voluptuous duck lips created a movement. All of a sudden, you couldn’t get away from beautiful women at bars or images on your instagram feed taking duck face selfies. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be an erogenous zone when used in kissing and other acts of intimacy.
My Strategy For Creating Beautiful Lips
Understanding normal lip anatomy is the the key to creating beautiful sensual lips. Normal natural lips have distinct characteristics and landmarks that when violated or altered have the potential to create some very unnatural looks.
In reconstructive surgery, plastic surgeons will use these same landmarks. Patients will frequently come to their lip consultation with concerns about how they have seen some unsightly lips on television and social media, and how they are concerned that may happen to them as well. My response to that would be creating beautiful lips is both a skill and an art. Not all injectors are plastic surgeons with a deep understanding of normal anatomic landmarks of the lip; and not all injectors have a deep understanding of facial aesthetics as an art-form. The following sections will outline my strategy in creating beautiful and sensual lips.
- Understand normal lip anatomy
- Understand the changes that develop with age
- Understand the social trends particularly in young people
- Discuss the consequences of unnatural requests
- Understand my one stick lip augmentation technique
You cannot fully understand how to cosmetically alter the the lip without understanding its normal anatomy. Normal anatomy serves as guidelines. In your consultation, we can decide to vary from these guidelines to suit your desires.
Normal attractive lips have the following properties:
- The upper lip has a slight pout that curls the lip upwards
Cupids’s bow is a distinctive curved margins of the upper lip - The peaks of the cupid’s bow intersect with the descending philtral columns
- There should be a fullness to the center of the upper lip extending to the base of the nose
- The fullness to the upper lip is more above the lip than it is in the center
- The fullness to the upper lip tapers as it extends to the corners of the lip
- The lower lip is 50% fuller than the upper lip
- The lower lip has 3 small tubercles of extra fullness
Normal changes in the Lip with Age
One of the primary changes that come with age is a generalized loss of volume. The volume is lost not only in the pink substance of the lip, but is lost above the upper lip in the philtrum between the cupid’s bow lip line and the base of the nose. Cosmetic lip fillers can supplement the volume that is lost with age.
The loss of volume results in the following changes:
- lips look less full and less sensual
- loss of volume results in the development of vertical “smoker’s” lines as the skin folds on itself
- the upper lip unfurls and curls inward toward the teeth ( the opposite of the pout )
In Dr. Chang’s experience, he noticed that there is a tremendous difference between what an older woman thinks about lip augmentation and what a younger woman thinks about lip augmentation. Older woman are mostly terrified about the thought of lip fillers; Younger women are eager and will jump at the opportunity for lip augmentation. This is a trend that was encouraged by Kylie Jenner, social media, and reality TV.
How to get rid of lip lines
The primary cause of lip lines is not smoking or excessive kissing. It is because of volume loss with aging. As the lip loses volume, the skin acts as an accordian and results in creases. The creases will eventually become permanent as you lose more volume . Deep permanent creases are extremely difficult to get rid of. Cosmetic fillers will plump up the lip as will as spread out of the lip wrinkles. Options include:
- Cosmetic fillers such as Juvederm or fat transfer
- Laser skin resurfacing if fillers are not sufficient
- Botox for this purpose as it Botox will flatten the lip
How to avoid unsightly lips
Getting a natural result is always the first priority in creating lips. The lips are central to your face and signal beauty and sexuality. Abnormal lips do not help the cause. Here are the important elements to creating beautiful lips.
- Understand and appreciate normal anatomic landmarks
- Recreate normal anatomic landmarks if they are missing with age
- Add volume not only to the pink lip pulp but to the philtrum above the lip line up to the nose
- Understand normal social trends- today, the pout is king. Larger might be more attractive, but only to a point.
Technique - one stick technique
I developed the one stick technique in 2001 after watching a live demonstration on lip injections. The instructor used a very short needle and stuck the woman’s lip no less than 20 times. I can guarantee that if I stuck your lip 20 times with a needle without filler, your lips would be huge and bruised. My technique.
- Numb up the lip with a nerve block or with numbing cream we formulate ourselves for effectiveness. You don’t want the patient to move or be uncomfortable during this delicate process
- The very thin but longer injection needle is placed at the corner of the upper lip and threaded across the lip to include the philtrum, cupid’s bow, and pink pulp. If the patient needs the majority of filling in the central 1/3 of the lip this is often the only needle stick.
- Fanning procedure is not usually performed in the lower lip. However, because the lower lip is more uniformly full all the way across, a needle insertion might be required on the opposite side.
Lip Augmentation Example
Before Lip Augmentation
After Lip Augmentation
Before Lip Augmentation
Before Lip Augmentation (oblique close up)
Upper Lip Injection
Exam of Symmetry After Upper Lip Completed
Lower Lip Augmentation
After Lower Lip Injection
Evaluation of results compared to the instagram lip model
2 days after lip augmentation
2 days after lip augmentation
before and after lip augmentation
1 week after lip augmentation
What can you expect during your lip augmentation ( filler ) procedure
- Step 1: Consultation and immediate treatment if the patient wants
- Step 2: Pictures are taken
- Step 3: Numbing cream is applied
- Step 4: Injection is performed
- Step 5: Ice and gentle massage for 1-3 days
- Step 6: Return to normal daily activities the next day
- Step 6: Swelling can last 2-3 weeks and sometimes longer
Learn more about Lip Fillers in Northern Virginia
Getting a natural result is always the first priority in creating lips. The lips are central to your face and signal beauty and sexuality. Abnormal lips do not help the cause. Here are the important elements to creating beautiful lips.
- Understand and appreciate normal anatomic landmarks
- Recreate normal anatomic landmarks if they are missing with age
- Add volume not only to the pink lip pulp but to the philtrum above the lip line up to the nose
- Understand normal social trends- today, the pout is king. Larger might be more attractive, but only to a point.
Lip lines are due to the loss of volume that comes with age. If the lines have not become permanent creases, the simple addition of cosmetic fillers will plump out the lines.
If the lip lines have become permanent creases, this the treatment options s are not as easy. They will usually require a combination of cosmetic fillers and laser resurfacing treatments.
I hate using botox in the upper lip as some other doctors suggest. Botox stops muscles from moving. I think it is always a bad look.
I’m not sure there is a single cosmetic filler that is the best. I will use different fillers depending on the purpose of the treatment. The most common cosmetic fillers for the lips include Juvederm, Voluma, and Volbella. These are all forms of hyaluronic acid gels developed by Allergan. Because they are hyaluronic gels, they are soft and resemble the soft tissue of the lips.
Lip Lines – Patients that want lip lines to be treated usually lack a significant amount of volume in their lips including the philtrum, vermillion border, and the pink pulp. My strategy is usually to use Voluma ( which lasts for up to 2 years ) in the philtrum above the lip and a combination of voluma and juvederm for the pink pulp. If the lines are etched and permanent, then I might add Volbella, which is a very thin hyaluronic gel that is sometimes more capable of dispersing between the creases without causing bumps.
Pump Me up – Patients who want significant Kylie Jenner type pout will require more than one syringe of filler. Typically, I will use Juvederm as it is a softer product than Voluma but doesn’t last as long. If the patient is using Voluma in other parts of the face, I will add a little bit of Voluma to their treatment to add greater longevity to their results.
Lips have a lot of swelling after cosmetic fillers. Think about how much swelling you have simply by biting your lips. The swelling is variable and will depend on how much filler you had, technique ( longer with multiple stick techniques ) and how active you are. In general, most of the swelling will be gone by 2-3 weeks but could be longer.
Unfortunately, lip augmentation is a subjective process and there are no guarantees of your satisfaction. In the event that you want more filling or if there is a need for any form of touch-up, you will be required to pay for the extra filler but at our discounted second syringe price.
While bruising is not common, visible bruising can occur in about one out of 10 patients. I hope you are not the one. The procedure obviously requires a needle and an injection.
The answer is absolutely yes. All of the cosmetic nurses at Aesthetica have at least 6-10 years of experience and have been personally trained. They have each seen more botox and cosmetic filler patients in a day than many dermatologists or primary care doctors in a month. For the record, they also treat my friends and family.
Dr. Chang is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon located in Leesburg, Virginia across from INOVA Loudoun Hospital.
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