Lip enhancement

As people age, the lips lose fullness and begin to show more lines and creases. The procedure of adding fullness to the lips can make someone look younger instantly.

UF Health cosmetic surgeons offer the following lip-enhancement procedures:

Collagen injections are the most common and easiest of all procedures to enhance the lips. This procedure takes twenty to thirty minutes and is done under local anesthesia. Patients can expect some swelling for the first sixteen to twenty-four hours following the injections. Once some of the swelling subsides, the fullness of the lips will last three to six months.

AlloDerm tissue is also used to create full lips. This latest technique involves a new type of implant material, AlloDerm. AlloDerm is human tissue and is thought to last longer than other materials. Performed under local or general anesthesia, small incisions are placed in the corners of the mouth and AlloDerm is threaded through the lips. The openings are sutured closed. Patients are advised to limit talking, and are required to be on a liquid or soft foods diet until the sutures are removed in approximately one week to ten days.

Dermal fat grafts are gaining popularity as a choice for lip augmentation. In this procedure, tissues are obtained from the patient for use in the lips while other procedures are being performed. For example, if a patient is undergoing a tummy tuck or face-lift, the excess tissue removed in these procedures can be tailored and trimmed into shapes that are ideal for lip augmentation. The tissue excised from behind the ear in a face-lift incision can be threaded through the upper or lower lip. Incisions can be hidden in the corners of the lips, and the tissue from the patient’s own body can be threaded across the lips. The new tissue produces a fuller effect in the lips, giving the face a more youthful appearance. This procedure takes approximately one hour and is done under local or general anesthesia.