Between the glossy pages of magazines and the carefully posed images on Instagram, it seems like the “perfect pout” is everywhere. Lip injections are all the rage these days, from celebrities to soccer moms. If you’re curious about the procedure and think you might want to try it for yourself, it’s essential to learn all the facts before you take the plunge.
Your first step is to read as much information about injections as you can. If you’re still interested after you’ve done all this reading, your next step is to schedule a consultation with a qualified doctor – not the first doctor you find, but the best doctor you can find.
Why Do You Need a Consultation First?
A private, one-on-one consultation should be the first phase of any cosmetic procedure. This meeting is your opportunity to talk to your doctor, learn about their approach and ask questions about anything that concerns you. Even though a lip augmentation with injectables is a non-surgical procedure, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it seriously. After all, you are thinking about altering your appearance, which is a major decision.
It’s not only important to be clear about your expectations before getting your procedure, but also to discuss side effects and see examples of a doctor’s past work. Yes, you’ll do a lot of research and read a lot of reviews before getting lip injections, but that is not a replacement for having a sit-down conversation with your doctor.
If a doctor offers to inject your lips without a thorough and transparent consultation, you should walk away. Why? Injecting lips is both an art and a science, which should be one of your main takeaways from this post. Even if someone is a medical doctor, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have the necessary expertise to perform lip injections.
Though anyone with medical training can legally do injections, it’s best to choose a talented cosmetic surgeon who has received board certification and has plenty of experience doing lip injections. The consultation, again, is the time to ask about your doctor’s credentials and view before-and-after photos to make sure your aesthetic philosophy matches up.
Size Matters – But It’s Not the Only Factor
As you have already realized, some lip augmentations look totally natural…and others, well, don’t. One reason is how large you and your doctor decide to go, but there are other factors at play, too. What it boils down to is that some doctors have a finer attention to detail than others.
There’s a lot more involved in lip injections than just plumping and filling. And it’s not a cookie-cutter procedure, either; a good cosmetic surgeon will take each patient’s facial proportions into account to preserve balance among the features. Your doctor should be willing to work with the configuration of your mouth to achieve your cosmetic goals.
Selecting where, and at what volume, to inject the lips is also an important decision to make in the consultation. Sometimes, only one lip needs to be filled, sometimes both, and often at different volumes, since not everyone’s mouth is perfectly symmetrical.
Where to inject is another aspect a talented doctor will take into account. For example, injecting the filler into the lips creates fullness, while injections along the lipline create definition.
What type of filler to use is one additional factor to consider. Hyaluronic acid-based fillers are the best option for lip injections, but there are several different formulas available, and your doctor will need to pick the one that is best to create the desired results for you.
How to Get the Best Results From Your Lip Injections
The first step, as we already mentioned, is to do your homework – and a large part of that is deciding how large you realistically want your lips to be after the procedure. If you know you want a dramatic, immediate difference, ask your doctor about your options. Most qualified cosmetic surgeons will caution you to stay away from the “overfilled” look in favor of a more natural appearance. If your goal is more pronounced results, the best approach may be to step up the size gradually over the course of a few weeks or months.
Avoid taking aspirin, Motrin, Aleve, fish oil, multivitamins and vitamin E for about a week before your procedure. These products all thin the blood, which can lead to post-injection bruising.
Because hyaluronic acid is a biocompatible product, your body will eventually reabsorb it over time. As a result, lip fillers aren’t permanent; most last six months to a year, depending on how quickly your body metabolizes the formula. If you love your look and want to keep it, you’ll need to be prepared to maintain the results with touch-up treatments. If you eventually decide to stop getting injections, your lips will return to their original state. However, the hyaluronic acid may trigger natural collagen production at the injection site, which could result in lips naturally retaining some volume due to the previous injections.
Lip injections are an in-office treatment that takes about 30 minutes. After you get your lip injections, you should be able to go back to your normal activities. Side effects such as redness or pain at the injection site are rare and usually subside within three days. If you experience swelling or soreness, you can place ice packs on your lips.
The Most Qualified Cosmetic Surgeon in Atlanta
The Atlanta Institute for Facial Aesthetic Surgery is a modern, advanced surgical center serving the metropolitan Atlanta area. Dr. Pradeep Sinha is double-board certified and has performed more than 10,000 aesthetic procedures in his 30-year career.
Known as “the specialist’s specialist,” Dr. Sinha has chosen to narrow the focus of his practice to offer surgical procedures that restore, refine and rejuvenate the appearance and function of the face and neck. Dr. Sinha brings his artistic sensibilities to each procedure for helping each patient achieve a more youthful, refreshed and natural-looking appearance.
When getting a cosmetic procedure at the Atlanta Institute for Facial Aesthetic Surgery, you can count on getting individualized attention with a customized treatment plan that addresses your unique concerns. Contact us today at 404-256-5428 to book your appointment.
