Lip augmentation with hyaluronic acid fillers is a procedure that many girls and women undergo. The injections provide quick results with a minimal rehabilitation period. The safety of using hyaluronic acid is due to the fact that it is a component related to the human body. But even this does not exclude the occurrence of side effects. The consequences of lip augmentation can be different and depend on several factors.
Calling for kisses...
Survey results show that both men and women associate lips with sexuality. From time immemorial, this part of the face has been given special importance. If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, then the mouth is a reflection of sexuality and sex appeal.
In our culture, a kiss is one of the first and most important intimate touches. Delicate, full, bright lips attract the opposite sex and make you want to touch them. For centuries, women have used lipsticks and glosses to enhance the beauty of their mouths. Nowadays, makeup has been replaced by cosmetic interventions. Contour plastic surgery (augmentation) allows you to increase the volume of your lips, giving them an absolutely natural plumpness.
Even those who have a very vague idea of the work of a cosmetologist have heard about this procedure. This is due to well-known media personalities with hypertrophied “pouting” lips, which one would like to compare to dumplings or duck beaks.
Much more often, the professional work of a cosmetologist does not look so provocative and much more natural.
What problems can be solved?
By nature, lips can be too thin, asymmetrical, disproportionate, and dry. It often happens that girls want to enlarge a completely normal mouth, make it larger, more fashionable, spectacular and expressive. In such situations, aesthetic medicine comes to the rescue.
In the arsenal of cosmetologists there are various means for non-surgical solution of the tasks. Most often, contour plastic surgery is used to add volume to the lips - injections of fillers based on cross-linked hyaluronic acid. (Hyaluronic acid fillers in the lip augmentation procedure: clinical and histological study) Previously, other fillers were used, for example, polymer-based ones, but they were abandoned long ago due to the huge number of complications (deformation, migration, allergic reactions). Modern fillers are safe, provided, of course, that you purchase products from trusted companies and perform the injections correctly.
Hyaluronic acid (hyaluronate) is actively used in cosmetology. This is an unrivaled humidifier with the unique ability to attract and bind water molecules. Hyaluronate is used for “beauty injections” - mesotherapy, biorevitalization, bioreparation - due to its ability to moisturize the deep layers of the skin. After special processing (“firmware”), the substance is also used for the manufacture of fillers (subcutaneous fillers). Cross-linked hyaluronic acid is a unique biological product that is compatible with skin tissue.
Over time, fillers dissolve and are eliminated from the body naturally. However, cross-linked hyaluronate is stable enough to remain unchanged for 1-2 years.
Contour plastic surgery allows you to give your lips the required volume and attractive shape, and get rid of asymmetry and disproportion. At the same time, thin skin is smoothed and filled with moisture, the mouth becomes tender, juicy, and sensual.
Negative reaction to hyaluronic acid is a reality that can be treated
The patient had a pronounced reaction to hyaluronic acid, which led to inflammation of the lips. It turns out that the cosmetologists she contacted did not know about the complications of hyaluronic acid or that it can be removed. If the specialist had at least basic knowledge in the field of aesthetic medicine, she would have dissolved the acid. Due to late treatment, treatment and recovery took three weeks. If help had been provided immediately in the office where she had lip augmentation done, it would have taken 3-5 days.
By the way, the patient was very lucky that she came 2 weeks after the operation, and not, for example, a month later, when the skin on her lips had already stretched. In this case, it would be impossible to return to the previous form.
What happens in a cosmetologist's office?
Augmentation takes little time - less than an hour. You can come to the clinic during your lunch break and return to work with a renewed appearance. Using a special needle or cannula (a blunt-ended tube with holes), a filler based on cross-linked hyaluronate is injected under the skin. The drug is selected by the doctor depending on the problems that need to be solved. For lips, dense but soft fillers are usually used to achieve a completely natural result.
It is always better to trust the choice of drug to a cosmetologist. The specialist has a good understanding of the features of different products and knows exactly how and in what quantity filler should be injected so that the result is natural and attractive.
Like all injection procedures, contouring involves a violation of the integrity of the skin, and therefore is potentially dangerous. It is important to carefully follow the technology - to introduce correctly selected drugs into the right layers of skin in compliance with all hygiene standards. In this case, the risk of complications tends to zero.
The effect is noticeable immediately after the procedure, but it reaches its maximum after 14 days. At the same time, not only does the volume increase, but the surface is smoothed out, the lips become juicy, well-hydrated, bright and shiny.
Problems that may arise after lip augmentation
Contour plastic surgery allows you to get rid of such imperfections as thin lips without volume, asymmetry, the presence of scars, drooping corners, etc. Complications of lip augmentation can be as follows:
- allergic reaction : occurs extremely rarely to filler components, but is still possible. For this reason, the cosmetologist must conduct a thorough collection of the patient’s medical history, on the basis of which he can then select a filler;
- severe swelling : swelling at the injection site of fillers is normal. The swelling goes away on its own in about 3–14 days. If the lips swell excessively and pain occurs, the doctor decides on the advisability of special therapy;
- tissue stretching : this happens due to the simultaneous injection of a large number of fillers. A professional doctor administers the drug in strictly dosage and in several stages, which avoids the occurrence of such a problem;
- hematomas : small bruises are also normal. Serious hematomas can form due to blood diseases (slow clotting), taking blood thinning drugs, drinking alcohol, during menstruation, etc.;
- displacement of the drug : occurs due to a mechanical effect on the lips in the first days after the introduction of the gel, when a capsule holding it has not yet formed in the tissue;
- rapid disappearance of the effect : most often occurs due to a spasm of the muscle of the upper or lower lip. Because of this, the filler moves towards the back wall.
The versatility of the problems that can be solved using lip pumping with fillers indicates the need for a professional approach to the procedure. The cosmetologist must accurately calculate the injection sites for the gel and its quantity.
What the masters are silent about
At first glance, it makes no difference who carries out the procedures and where, what matters is the result – plump, seductive lips. However, not all so simple.
Injection procedures can only be performed by a certified cosmetologist. The doctor is responsible for the result. In practice, this is often done by non-professionals, especially when it comes to private offices or home work. Such masters bear absolutely no legal responsibility for their actions.
If you have the procedure done in a clinic, you can be sure that you will get help if something goes wrong (for example, a life-threatening allergic reaction occurs). The clinics maintain high hygienic standards, and this applies to every detail of the environment - from the availability of necessary medications to the design of the chair and the choice of available tools.
In private offices where unlicensed “cosmetologists” work, there may not even be a first aid kit. If something goes wrong, the master will at best call an ambulance. And if the reaction is delayed - it often happens that the allergy appears after two weeks or even later - then there is a high risk that the specialist will not do anything at all, and it will not be possible to prove that the complication arose as a result of his incorrect actions.
No one wants to think about the bad, but it is better to worry about your safety in advance than to face the unpleasant consequences of the procedure.
But that is not all! Filler manufacturers cooperate only with certified medical cosmetologists. The original products of such companies cannot be found on the open market, therefore, non-professional “masters” cannot purchase them. As a result, they are forced to buy drugs second-hand, and in such a situation there is a high probability of purchasing a counterfeit filler with unknown components. The storage conditions of the drug may also be violated. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fakes on the market, and if you do not buy directly from manufacturers (and only clinics can buy directly from them), then the risk of running into a counterfeit is quite high. The consequences of using such drugs can be unpredictable - from anaphylactic shock upon administration to deformation and inflammation several weeks after the procedure.
Case from practice: how lips turned into dumplings. Complications with lip augmentation
For some reason, it is generally accepted that natural preparations such as hyaluronic acid cannot cause complications and allergies. This is an absolute mistake. After all, there are allergies to natural products - strawberries, oranges and even cabbage, and this does not surprise anyone.
Recently a girl came to our Center. She had her lips enlarged and within a week of the procedure she began to experience swelling. The patient went through a couple of specialists, who told her that everything would pass soon. But the swelling did not go away, and her lips began to hurt, so the patient signed up for an aesthetic medicine clinic - with a certified dermatologist-cosmetologist.
Our doctor noted monstrous swelling in the lip area and inflammation, visible to the naked eye. The girl’s lips hardened so much that it became difficult for her to speak. Treatment involved removing hyaluronic acid and treating allergies and inflammation with anti-inflammatory drugs and steroids.
Reaction to lip augmentation with hyaluronic acid
Everything took more than 20 days. The lips, fortunately, recovered - the inflammation stopped, the acid dissolved, and the mouth returned to its original shape.
The worst thing in this situation is that the patient visited the doctors, and no one helped her. Cosmetologists, counting on the safety of hyaluronic acid, underestimated its case, showing complete ignorance in this matter. But the treatment in this case was quite simple.
“They want to make money from me!”
Comparing prices in reputable clinics and at home, many patients cannot resist an offended exclamation: “They want to cash in on my desire for beauty!” Well, let's face it: everyone who offers services wants to make money from those who purchase these services. This is how the world works, and the field of aesthetic medicine is no exception. Nobody works for free, everyone expects a reward for their work. For your education.
Another thing is also true - a low price does not mean that the provider of the service works for free, at a loss. Rather, it speaks of the neglect of some of the components of a quality service. For example, if a counterfeit is used instead of an original drug, a guarantee for the procedure is not provided, and the performer does not have the necessary knowledge and skills.
To get beautiful lips, you only need to visit a cosmetologist once. The result lasts for a year and a half, in the future the procedure can be repeated. Sometimes this is no longer necessary - the condition of the lips noticeably improves. The cumulative effect is due to the fact that as a result of the procedures, the synthesis of collagen and elastin increases, the tissues are saturated with moisture.
In terms of many months of enjoying the result, the standard price of 14 – 16 thousand per procedure turns out to be not so high. At the same time, you can be sure that a certified drug will be used, and its administration will be carried out correctly and according to the rules by an experienced doctor.
The results of unsuccessful contouring are too noticeable to take risks and trust lip augmentation to just anyone.
Simple recommendations
- Do contouring only in a licensed clinic, where experienced doctors with specialized education work.
- Choose a specialist you will trust. The result largely depends on this. Take the time to get to know the doctor in advance and make sure you understand each other. Read reviews from other patients, including on third-party sites.
- Answer your doctor's questions frankly regarding contraindications, allergic reactions and previous experiences with lip augmentation.
- Entrust the choice of filler to a specialist. You just need to tell what result you want to achieve, and the doctor will offer the optimal solution to the problem. There are softer and denser fillers; the volume may also vary (although it is not recommended to use more than 1 ml). A good doctor will definitely explain his choice to you and give reasons for it.
- The cosmetologist will definitely answer all your questions before and during the procedure. He won’t leave you later either - you can always go to the clinic for advice.
Following these simple rules will help you make no mistakes in your choice and avoid the risks that you may encounter in the pursuit of savings.
