Lip Enhancement is the improvement of the appearance of the lips. It includes subtle treatment to improve smoker's lines, increased definition of the lip borders and the enlargement of lips to give a fuller look to the lips. It is important to have a discussion with the doctor before you have the procedure done to make sure you get the best results and what you want to achieve.

What are Facial fillers?

Facial fillers products are a range of crystal-clear gels used to smooth facial lines and folds to give a long-lasting, natural enhancement. Facial filler was first produced in 1960 and since has been used in over 2 million treatments and in more than 70 countries worldwide. There are many newer products available now that are non permanent and that give less swelling to help you achieve the look you desire without increased swelling of the lips or area treated.

Fillers are made from a stable, bio-degradable, non-animal hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is one of very few substances that are identical in all species and tissue types. It plays an important role for both mechanical and transport purposes in the body, giving volume to the skin, shape to the eyes and elasticity to the joints. All over the world, patients have been treated with hyaluronic acid based products in well documented areas such as eye surgery and orthopedics. In the skin, hyaluronic acid molecules bind water and create volume. Facial filler products are available in different gel particle sizes which can be used individually or in combination depending on the areas to be corrected.

How does a Facial fillers work?

Facial fillers will act by adding volume to the tissue where it is injected, smoothing wrinkles and folds or giving lips a fuller, more sensuous form. Results from Facial fillers are instantaneous.

Facial fillers are used for:-

§ wrinkle correction or lip enhancement

§ shaping facial contours such as cheeks and chin, correcting deep folds, and for volume augmentation of the lips

§ correcting thin, superficial lines, for example around the eyes and mouth, forehead lines and smile lines

Sometimes a combination of product types may need to be used to achieve optimal results.

How long does a treatment with filler last?

One of the advantages of Facial filler products is that they are long-lasting but not permanent. It will give you improvement from 6 to 12 months with an average of about nine months. How long a treatment lasts is very individual. This depends on factors such as your age, skin type, lifestyle, muscle activity and the areas to be treated. The gel particles in Facial fillers are absorbed slowly, drawing water into the gel structure over time. When totally absorbed, the gel disappears unnoticed from the body. Most patients choose to have a follow-up treatment six to twelve months after an initial treatment. You have the choice to continue or change the combination of treatments, and the procedure can be repeated as often as you like.

What does the procedure involve?

With the newer Hyaluronic acid treatments there is no need for pre-testing with Facial fillers and results are instantaneous. The areas to be treated are cleansed and facial contours and lines assessed. A local anesthetic injection may be required to numb an area for treatment. This is always done for lips as they are super sensitive. The skin is cleaned with an antiseptic solution before the injections are made. A sterile technique is used to reduce the risk of infection.

Antiseptic solution is used to clean the skin before injection with Facial fillers. The filler is injected into the area being treated and the injection site is massaged to conform to the contour of the surrounding tissues. Ice can be applied immediately to help reduce potential swelling and bruising as well as to give anesthesia for injections.

What are the side-effects to treatment with Facial fillers products?

Any injection related side effects can occur and these include: redness, pain, itching, bruising and tenderness at the implant site. Most of these side-effects typically resolve spontaneously within two to three days. Bruising may last up to a week in some patients. Those who suffer from cold-sores may develop a recurrence within seven days of treatment of the lips. We recommend if you suffer from cold sores that you use a cold sore cream prohylactically after treatment around the lip area.

Other types of reactions are rare. Approximately 1:10 000 treatments have reported localized hypersensitivity-type reactions. These have usually consisted of swelling at the implant site and surrounding tissues, redness, tenderness and rarely acne-like formations. These reactions can either start a few days after injection or after a delay of two to four weeks, and have generally been described as mild to moderate and self-limiting with an average duration of two weeks.

Very rare cases (less than 1:15 000 treatments) of prolonged firmness, nodule formation, abscess formation, superficial necrosis, grayish discoloration and scab formation/ shedding of tissue resulting in a shallow scar have been reported. Patients that have experienced this type of reaction should not be retreated with Facial fillers.