Lip Augmentation

Nowadays, women and men crave fuller-looking lips. Celebrities such as Kylie Jenner and Bella Thorne have made fuller lips the "in" look. What is the "go-to" procedure for achieving fuller lips? Should I get lip fillers or fat grafting?
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Lip fillers, such as Juvederm, are a series of injections that shape and plump up your lip. Lip fillers are only a semi-permanent solution, similar to the fat or tissue grafting.

Lip fillers

Lip fillers are injected into the upper and lower lips. There are several different types of lip fillers, including Juvederm, Restylane, Neauvia, Belotero, Monalisa, Voluma, and Perlane. Lip filler augmentation is an in-office procedure. During your consultation, I will assess your lips and overall facial balance. Then will determine which areas of your lips need to be fuller and plumper.

For temporary lip augmentation, it is recommended to use a filler that has lidocaine. Lidocaine is a numbing medication. After determining how much and where to inject the lip filler, you are ready to proceed.

The lip filler augmentation procedure takes about fifteen to thirty minutes to complete. Lip filler augmentation is a quick procedure that you can even do over your lunch break. The patient can go home the day of the procedure. The cost of the procedure ranges from $400 to $800 per syringe. Since lip fillers only last six to eight months, lip filler augmentation is only a semi-permanent solution.

Fat grafting

Another alternative to artificial fillers and implants is using your own tissue for lip augmentation. Using your own tissue for lip augmentation is called autologous lip augmentation. Fat transfer is one type of autologous lip augmentation and is another great option for lip augmentation. Like lip fillers, fat transfer to the lips is an in-office procedure. Fat transfer to the lips is performed under local anesthesia.

During the fat transfer to the lips, fat is harvested from your abdomen (around the belly button), purified, and transferred into your lips. Fat transfer to the lips takes about sixty to ninety minutes to perform. The patient can go home the day of the procedure. Lips augmented with fat stay plump for five years or longer. The cost of this procedure ranges from $1,500 to $3,000.

Tissue grafting

There is another type of autologous lip augmentation. In addition to using fat for lip augmentation, a piece of your own skin or dermis can be used for lip augmentation. During this type of autologous lip augmentation, the skin is removed from the lower stomach area. Sometimes, a C-section scar can be resected and used for lip augmentation. Sometimes, the skin removed during a facelift can be used for lip augmentation.

After the skin is resected, the top layer of the skin (epidermis) is removed. The remaining piece of skin is a strip of the dermis and is rolled into a cigar-like shape. This piece of the dermis is then inserted into your lips. This type of autologous lip augmentation is also an in-office procedure and can be performed under local anesthesia. The duration of the dermal transfer to lips procedure ranges from sixty to ninety minutes. The patient can go home the day of the procedure. Your lips should retain their shape and volume for five years or more. The cost of this procedure ranges from $2,000 to $4,000.