Treating Lips

The look of a full and sulky lip has been desired by both genders for hundreds, if not thousands of years. They convey a sense of youth that is attractive and pleasing. The desire for luscious lips spares is one that is present in many cultures, both in the past and in the present. Indeed, even across the central steppes of Asia and the vast riches of the Middle East, the lips are regarded as the aesthetic center of the lower face. To many females in particular, they are a major sign for beauty. For many patients today, the lips are a prime aesthetic concern, especially for patients that have severe signs of aging such as a decrease in lip volume, perioral.

wrinkles, smoker’s lines, and downturned corners. However, many patients share a common negative perception about surgical procedures, including ones aimed at the lips, as the complications of such procedures have often been devastating and/or even permanent. Fortunately, the days of exceptionally poor results from botched cosmetic surgeries are numbered. To help show this, this article aims to provide an overview of popular minimally invasive procedures. Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers and ablative lasers have become popular treatment modalities over the years, as both are efficacious and have strong respective.

Patient analysis

The best lip augmentation procedures give an ideal duration of action, low risk for side effects, and an optimal natural appearance. For every procedure that will be discussed in this article, they begin with patient selection and analysis. The most crucial process in any treatment should be evaluating the health and medical condition of your patient. Do this to ensure that they do not have any comorbidities that may impede the healing process, or any contraindications that preclude them from a certain treatment modality. Secondly, document the appearance of the lips before a procedure by measuring the lip dimensions and by taking photographs. Next, enquire if they have had any history of lip augmentation prior to this, and if the answer is yes, ask what type of injectable fillers were used. You should always discuss treatment expectations with your patients.

When doing so, maintain that the procedure is not meant to be a miracle, and it is sometimes in both of your interests that you cancel the treatment if the patient insists on unrealistic expectations. Carefully examine the severity or degree of structural degradation of the lower face and the volume lost in the lips, as you need information on both matters to know how much filler you will be using. Make sure that patients find the amount of filler you will use to be agreeable with your treatment plan. Patients may find it surprising or odd that your suggestions are against what they have been told or have seen. For example, injecting large amounts of dermal fillers into the lips does not result in an aesthetically pleasing result, even though such an approach may seem intuitive.

Explain that the ideal lips also require rebuilding the structural support around the lips. Lastly, reassure them that you will minimize pain during the procedure and that any post-operative complications are mainly transient except in a few severe cases. When you have done all of the above, have your patient sign an informed consent form to adequately document their approval.