About Lip Augmentation

The plastic surgery process known as lip augmentation is not for everyone. I t is not recommended if you have a chronic disease like lupus, diabetes or AIDS or if you are not in good mental health. If you have herpes you could end up with bad scarring on your lips as a result of the operation as any type of disturbance of the lips causes the virus to break out.

You should also not consider a lip augmentation if you are on the skin treatment Accutane which can cause scarring. If you need a lot of dental work and have problems with oral plaque or dental abscesses first then a plastic surgeon won’t treat you until you get those problems corrected first. This is because dental infections can spread to the area of lip augmentation and cause illness.

There are many different kinds of lip augmentations. Most popular are the injectable temporary fillers. These treatments usually last from a month to nine months. There are a few products that may last as long as two years and these include Restylane, Collagen, CosmoPlast, CosmoDerm, Hylaform, Juvederm, Radiesse (Radiance) and others. Another popular type of lip augmentation is injectable micro-implants. These include Artecoll, Bio-Alcamid, Aquamid, Argiform, Radiesse (Radiance, or Radiance FN) and other substances approved by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration.

Sometimes you can be injected with a product that causes the lips to swell. These types of lip augmentation products are called injectable bio-catalysts. These products cause your body to produce collagen or other skin tissues. These types include Sculptra, Reviderm Intra, and others. 

You can also get synthetic implants. These are permanent lip augmentation devices that stay in your lips until removed. They are made from expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (or ePTFE).  Infection is common with these, which can lead to removal and antibiotic use until the infection clears up.  The replacement surgery usually isn’t until 3 months later to be sure no infection is present.  These types of implants produce a hard defined look.

Implants from cadavers and other humans are the best way to achieve those full soft Angelina Jolie type lips. This type of fat is usually harvested from dead bodies. A benefit of using these types of implants is that they are safe and also stimulate your own body to grow more collagen on its own. This class of lip augmentation products includes AlloDerm, CosmoDerm, CosmoPlast, Fascian, and others.  If you don’t like the idea of using cadaver fat then you can always harvest fat from your own body. However the results from that only last from a few weeks to two or three months.