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Full lips can bring a youthful appearance to the lower facial area. It is typical that over the years collagen and fat in the lip area will decrease giving an aged possibly wrinkled look to the area. Alternatively many patients are simply unhappy with the shape or size of their lips. They may be too small or wrinkled. The upper lip may be too long covering the entire upper dentition. Patients may be unhappy with their lips turning down at the corners making them look mad or sad. Less commonly patients may feel that their lips are too large or full and want to have them reduced. Lip Assessment
Whatever the issue the patient may have with her perioral area, careful assessment and discussion can lead us to the appropriate choice for rejuvenation of this area. Injectables continued to be the mainstay for rejuvenation of this area. Judicious assessment and adequate placement of injectables can take care of most complaints patients have. They can very adequately plump and fill the lips and also take care of any turning down of the corners.
Reestablishing subcutaneous fullness can not only make them look larger but will smooth any wrinkles as well. The benefit here is of course minimal anesthesia required an easy recovery. The down side is the most injectables are not permanent and will resolve over time requiring reinjection. This also brings an advantage to our approach to the perioral area because over time we can adjust our approach to adequately please the patient.
Botox™
More recently the use of Botox has proven useful in some perioral rejuvenation areas. Judicious injection of the appropriate muscles can reposition the lips and softened wrinkles.
Fat Grafting
Frequently patients are seeking a more long-lasting result and Dr. Murphy's first choice in these patients is fat grafting. When appropriately performed back grafting can give a nice smooth natural contour to the lip which can be long-lasting.
Lip Shortening
Other more invasive procedures would include lip shortening and excision of excess tissue to make lip smaller. These procedures are typically performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia or possibly local anesthesia with sedation and have minimal recovery related to bruising and swelling.
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