Lip Augmentation
Fillers Are Something to Smile About in New Jersey
The lips are some of the hardest-working parts of the body. They are a part of every word spoken, every smile and frown, and even every kiss. Because of their spotlight role, they can get a lot of attention—which can be welcome if someone is confident in how their lips look, but uncomfortable if they are not. Thin lips can be a problem, but there is a simple solution for lip augmentation at New Jersey’s South Jersey Skin Care & Laser Center.
Volbella® is a member of the Juvederm® fillers family, made by Allergan specifically for lip augmentation and use around the mouth. This brand has a reputation for safety, efficacy, and beautiful results. Dr. Robin Levin has particular experience with members of the Juvederm® line, choosing them for their reliability and natural-looking volume. Lip augmentation can also be used to smooth out lip lines around the mouth, further emphasizing the area’s youthful look.
Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Robin Levin and the team of skin care specialists at South Jersey Skin Care & Laser Center are happy to offer lip augmentation in New Jersey. Click here to schedule an appointment or consultation. If you prefer, you may also contact us directly at (856) 810-9888.
What Causes Thin Lips?
Luscious, shapely lips are a feature that many people consider desirable—but not everyone has them. Lips that are thin enough to prompt someone to consider lip augmentation have a variety of potential causes. In some cases, a person’s lips are simply naturally thin due to genetics. A lifetime of seeing them in the mirror may be motivation enough to seek out lip augmentation options.
In other cases, the aging process causes full lips to gradually lose volume, making them appear thinner over time. This process is especially noticeable on people who already have naturally small lips. Anyone experiencing this may want lip augmentation to regain their more youthful contours.
Both scenarios involve a lack of sufficient collagen, which is a protein that provides an abundance of benefits in the skin, including healthy volume, structure, flexibility, and a home for moisture-loving hyaluronic acid. It’s also common for wrinkles to occur on or around the mouth over time as the skin becomes weaker and we repeatedly purse our lips, causing the skin to crease up. Along with normal aging, smoking and sun damage are two of the main contributors to lip wrinkles and “smoker’s lines.”
What is Lip Augmentation?
Lip augmentation involves cosmetic procedures such as fillers that are introduced to increase the fullness of the lips or change their shape. Hyaluronic acid fillers are soft substances that are injected below the surface to temporarily make the skin thicker and more youthful-looking or to lift the skin and add volume to depressions to improve facial contours. While fillers are typically used for reducing wrinkles, they are also the most popular choice for lip augmentation, as they can be used for a variety of purposes, including plumping up the lips to make them more curvaceous, balancing them out, hiding lip wrinkles, altering the shape of the lips, or even smoothing scarred areas.
How Does Lip Augmentation Work?
An injectable filler is meant to play the role of collagen, even if—as in the case of Volbella®— the filler’s base is hyaluronic acid. Known as “HA,” the molecule is produced in the body for lubrication and cushioning connective tissues because it attracts and retains large quantities of water. The gel fills out, provides support to, and clings to the skin, acting like a substitute for the collagen, facial fat, moisture, and other volume-providing elements that give skin a healthy, supple appearance. Injected with precision into key areas, lip augmentation adds volume to make the lips appear rounder, shapelier, and more hydrated.
Juvederm Volbella® is a very thin, spreadable filler that is ideal for enhancing areas with very delicate skin, such as the lips. It’s used for subtle lip augmentation, adding definition, and smoothing over tiny lip lines that make the area around the mouth appear aged.
Your Lip Augmentation Treatment at South Jersey Skin Care & Laser Center
Prior to lip augmentation, we start off by evaluating the appearance of your lips and overall facial symmetry to determine whether lip augmentation would be suitable for you and how the filler should be placed. Patients can talk about their goals so that we have a clear idea of the type of look they want to attain and have all of their questions answered to their satisfaction. Fillers are customizable and can be added to either the upper or lower lip or both, depending on the needs and goals of each patient. Our injectors can control how much of the filler is added to the lips.
Lip augmentation isn’t known for being very painful, and the Juvederm® fillers are mixed with a numbing medication called lidocaine to make the process more comfortable. Patients can also choose to have a topical anaesthetic as well to reduce sensation.
Lip augmentation is an in-office procedure that is typically completed in less than half an hour, after which patients can resume their activities. There’s no recovery time needed. If a patient prefers a more gradual approach or is unsure about fillers, a small amount of gel can be added during multiple lip augmentation sessions.
Does the Injector Matter for Lip Augmentation?
Absolutely! Remember: Lips are very visible, so it is important to choose an experienced injector who will make the results of a lip augmentation session appear natural, not puffy or overdone. The goal is to maintain ideal proportions between the lips—upper and lower—so that the rejuvenation harmonizes with the rest of the face.
How Long Does Lip Augmentation Last?
Eventually, any hyaluronic acid fillers will be metabolized by the body, but this process happens gradually, and the substance won’t just suddenly completely dissolve. The lifespan of lip augmentation depends on the type of formula that is used, how much of it you get, and the location of the fillers.
It’s impossible to avoid facial movement, and since the muscles around the mouth area are very active when we talk, chew, make facial expressions, and go about daily life, lip fillers tend to break down at a faster rate than fillers used elsewhere on the face. Though results are temporary, they are still long lasting. Lip augmentation patients can expect to enjoy their fuller lips for between six months to one year, after which they can get a new set of injections to keep their lips looking healthy and young.
More on Injectable Treatments
South Jersey Skin Care & Laser Center also offers Voluma® and Vollure™, two more hyaluronic acid-based injectables, each with a unique focus. Discover how they can work together—and with other options available—to generate natural-looking results. BOTOX® is another minimally invasive injectable treatment that can be used for lip augmentation. It can enhance the shape of the lips, reduce a gummy smile caused by an upper lip that recedes too much, and reduce wrinkles around the lips. Unlike fillers, BOTOX® doesn’t actually add volume to the lips, it simply relaxes tense muscles around the lips, which allows the upper lip to roll outward slightly and look more defined.
Contact South Jersey Skin Care & Laser Center to learn more about lip augmentation in the New Jersey area. Call (856) 810-9888 or schedule an appointment online.
*We are all different! Patient results may vary.