Choosing a Lip Filler

As we age, our lips tend to flatten and lose their crisp border. That’s because our natural production of hyaluronic acid declines with age and motion. If you’re comparing lip fillers in Wellington, FL it will help to understand how your anatomy, the choice of product, and the skill of your injector all play their part in getting you the results you’re looking for.

Lip Fillers in Wellington, FL: The Basics

Our Lips and the Problem of Thinning

The lips are a layered structure whose red portion meets pale skin at a sharp ridge called the vermilion border. The upper edge of this border rises into the paired peaks of “Cupid’s bow,” and the body of the lips is crossed by fine vertical columns. When that ridge blurs, when the peaks flatten, or when the wet mucosa starts to thin, the face can begin to look older.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan already present in our skin and other tissues. In fact, more than half of the body’s store of this molecule sits in the dermis and epidermis, where the molecule’s long chains trap water to keep our tissues plump. As production of HA falls with age, the lips start to lose both their water-binding capacity and their structural support. A person who once had a defined border will now see a flatter profile and fine lines that radiate from the mouth.

Hyaluronic Acid Fillers

The United States Food and Drug Administration has cleared several hyaluronic acid gels specifically for injection into the lips and the skin around them, including:

• JUVÉDERM Ultra XC, for injection into the lips and perioral area for augmentation
• JUVÉDERM VOLBELLA XC, for lip augmentation and for correction of perioral rhytids
• Restylane Kysse, for lip augmentation and correction of upper perioral rhytids
• Restylane Silk, for lip augmentation and correction of perioral wrinkles

Those products are not interchangeable blobs of the same gel. Ultra XC, for example, uses Hylacross technology and a higher hyaluronic acid concentration, which means it’s often the right choice when what you’re looking for is more visible fullness. VOLBELLA XC uses Vycross technology at a lower concentration and gives a softer feel, which is better if you want more modest volume plus some softening of the vertical lines that etch the skin above the upper lip.

Restylane Kysse uses XpresHAn crosslinking, which is designed so the gel will flex when the mouth moves. Restylane Silk uses a smaller particle NASHA gel intended for soft volume and lipstick lines. At Palms Wellington Plastic Surgery, these and other options are all available for us to discuss with you for lip work. Your product choice is part of the consultation, and we never approach this as a one-size-fits-all choice.  

How Long Fillers Last

Choosing the product isn’t just about its performance immediately but also about how long it will last. Clinical studies that score lip fullness on a standardized scale at set intervals, as well as manufacturer and FDA summaries, show that, when you choose the optimal treatment for you, you can expect your results to last up to a year. Some have a shorter window and some longer, and ultimately the longevity of the treatment will depend in part on the product you choose and in part on your own physiology. Some people metabolize the product faster than others.

Good Candidates

Most people are good candidates for this treatment, with a few limited exceptions. Anyone with a history of multiple severe allergies, known hypersensitivity to gram-positive bacterial proteins, or an allergy to lidocaine should not get fillers. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are reasons to defer treatment until you’re finished breastfeeding.  

If you have an active cold sore around the mouth, this raises the chance that injection will trigger a herpetic flare, so either taking an antiviral or delaying treatment until the skin has quieted down is is important.

The Right Injector

This injection is a medical procedure, and it should not be performed at a party, a salon, a home, or at a non-medical spa. You must get treatment from an injector who understands human anatomy and the importance of sterile technique and who has the training and eye for detail to provide injections precisely where they should go. The right proportion is the difference between ending up with a mouth that still looks like you and a mouth that looks obviously treated. It takes practice and training to get the proportions right.  

The arteries travel within the lip in a pattern that varies from person to person, so deep placement of HA near the wet-dry junction, high-volume boluses, and injection under pressure all raise the chance that gel will enter a blood vessel and cause complications. It takes experience to know how to “read” the lips and do it right. It’s best to work with injectors who are under the supervision of a board-certified plastic surgeon and who have had training that includes facial anatomy, management of complications, and using the right techniques and placement to achieve a client’s goals.

The Treatment Experience

The gel goes in during a short office visit, and it’s fast and convenient. The needle passes through thin, mobile tissue, and your body will likely respond to this initially with a little swelling and tenderness at the injection points. This is normal, and it passes quickly. Using some cold compresses in the first day or two, sleeping with your head raised, and avoiding anything that could cause you to sweat a lot will reduce the amount of extra fluid that collects in the area and keep the swelling down. Skip putting any makeup on the puncture sites until the skin has closed fully so you are not pressing an unsterile product into a fresh opening in the skin.

Results

You’ll be able to see your final results once the puffiness drops, and that usually takes about two weeks. Lips tend to lose volume after these injections more quickly than cheek injections, and that’s just because the lips are a site of the body that never stops moving. If the border looks a little uneven on day one, just wait. That’s common and normally corrects. If it hasn’t once the swelling has settled, then talk to us about a small addition or a correction.

The amount of hyaluronic acid in your lips can actually be reduced after injection, if you like. An enzyme called hyaluronidase can be injected to break down the gel, and that allows us to make adjustments to volume or placement according to your preferences.

Palms Wellington Plastic Surgery

At Palms Wellington, Dr. Itzhak Nir, MD, FACS, is a board-certified cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgeon who has practiced in the Wellington area since 2001. At his office, we treat the lips with the hyaluronic acid families described above and more. During consultation, we’ll take a medical history and some photographs, and then come up with a plan for both the right product and the right dose.

Talk to us today to set up a consultation at Palms Wellington Plastic Surgery, where we can help you come up with a plan that will fit your mouth and goals. Call us today at (561) 753-3331 or visit us online to see before and after photos, look at what fillers we offer, and set up your path to attaining fuller, more youthful-looking lips.