A friendly and a warm smile make socializing easy. Your smile marks your personality and lips play a significant role in it. Shaped lips are an integral part of a person’s face.

However, too large, or too thin lips may require lip contouring or lip shaping. Lip correction can be a non-surgical as well as a surgical procedure. However, too large, or too thin lips may require lip contouring or lip shaping.Lip correction can be a non-surgical as well as a surgical procedure. For a optimum result, lip contouring surgery is considered.

Types:

Lip shaping surgery is done to alter the appearance and size of lips. It may be performed alone or in combination with other facial plastic surgeries such as facelift, rhinoplasty, chin augmentation or jaw augmentation.
Lip contouring employs both lip reduction and lip augmentation technique depending on patient’s requirement. Let us learn about both the methods in detail.
1. Lip reduction – Lip reduction or reduction cheiloplasty is a cosmetic surgery to reduce the size of protruding or abnormally large lips.

2. Lip augmentation- Lip augmentation is the procedure that will make your lips sensual, fuller and bigger.

Lip Reduction Surgery

Plump and full lips add to the appearance but when they are larger than average or appear out of proportion in comparison with other facial features you may find it displeasing. To resize your lips to the desired comfort you need to consider lip reduction surgery. This procedure involves removal of a strip of lip’s red part and underlying tissue from one angle end of the mouth to another. The main aim of lip surgery is to achieve harmony between lower and upper lips. It is a natural and quick procedure with minimum discomfort and fast recovery. This surgery corrects any asymmetry present and renders a balanced look to your face. This enhances your all over appearance, improves your confidence, increases self-esteem and makes you look rejuvenated and youthful.

Causes: Who Should Plan Lip Reduction Surgery

You should opt for a lip reduction surgery if you have following issues:

• Your lips are unusually big
• You are not happy with the shape and size of your lips.
• Your lips have lost youthful appearance with wrinkles and lines.
• Excess of skin on lips
• Clients with poor upper and lower lip ratio.
• Lip extroversion due to snaggletooth or protruding teeth.
• Excess skin creases at lips
• Thickened lips due to the habit of licking.
• Congenital disability
• Too large lips interfere with speaking, eating, and drinking
• You find it challenging to apply lipgloss, lipstick, and makeup
  Good candidates For Lip Reduction surgery
• Non-smoker
• The individual in good health without any severe health issues.
• With realistic expectation
• Those who do not have cold sores and any skin disorder, keloid scar or infection.

Precautions Before Surgery

• Before surgery, the routine lab test is done and also doctor will evaluate your current health condition.
• Let your doctor know if you are taking any medications or supplements.
• You need to stop taking blood-thinning medicines and supplements a week before surgery. Get the list of medications you need to avoid by your surgeon.
• Before the surgery avoid sun tanning. Use UVA or UVB sunscreen
• Avoid alcohol consumption from 2 weeks before lip reduction procedure.
• If you have any severe allergy, let your doctor know before surgery.
• Do not apply makeup on the day of surgery.

Procedure:

Lip reduction is a quick, safe and simple surgical procedure that hardly takes 30 minutes to an hour to complete. Usually, local anesthesia is given. In some cases, only oral sedatives are used, but in some cases, general anesthesia may also be provided. On the same day of surgery, the patient is sent home. The process can be carried out on the bottom lip, upper lip or both as desired by the client. The incision is made in the length of lip inside the mouth to avoid scarring. This is followed by removing the wet-dry border or strip of one or both the lips. Excess of fat and tissues are also removed, and then stitches are used to reshape the lips. The incision is closed with dissolvable sutures.
*The technique ‘bikini incision’ is preferred to provide precise lips. In this procedure, precisely calculated incisions are made. In the top lip, the incision made is in the form of two circles that are joined with a band resembling the top of bikini, and in the lower lip incision is made in V shape that resembles the bottom of the bikini.

What To Expect

After lip reduction surgery, the dressing is placed on lips. There may be swelling and bruising that takes a few days to dissolve. You are advised only to eat soft foods till the swelling goes away. Sutures dissolve on its own. A little discomfort, numbness, and tingling after the surgery is a common experience, but it is not a big deal as it is tolerable and goes away the first week following surgery. Until scars get soft stiffness and tightness in your lips may be experienced. Your doctor may prescribe you pain medicines and antibiotics to prevent infection. Complete recovery takes two weeks.
The final result of surgery takes 3-months to be visible. The results are long lasting.

Precautions After Surgery

• Do not smoke for two weeks post-surgery
• Keep your head elevated with the help of pillows while sleeping. Staying upright reduces swelling.
• Avoid applying makeup during the recovery period
• Avoid singing, laughing or any other mouth opening behavior for a few days.
• Avoid acidic food during the recovery period, or it may cause soreness and scar.
• Antiseptic mouthwash may be advised to rinse mouth.
• Avoid strenuous activity for a couple of weeks after surgery.
• Avoid contact sports for about 6-8 weeks post surgery.
• Refrain yourself from licking your lips until complete recovery takes place.
• Regularly visit your surgeon as scheduled to be assured that the outcome is progressing as planned.

Side Effects And Associated Risk

After lip reduction surgery you may experience following temporary symptoms:

• Swelling and bruising
• Scarring that fades eventually
• Mild discomfort and pain
• Tightness in the chest

Potential Risks And Complications:

There is a meager chance of potential complications such as:

• Bleeding
• Infection
• Stitches may come apart before healing takes place
• Post-traumatic asymmetry or scarring.
• Tooth exposure
• Difficulty in closing mouth
• Recurrent thickening
• Parasthesia that may be temporary or permanent.
• Over or under correction- This is usually re-corrected.

Before the procedure risks, complications are discussed by your surgeon in detail. After the surgery, if you experience severe, unusual health issues meet your surgeon as soon as possible.

• To reduce the chances of possible complications chose your surgeon carefully.

Lip Augmentation Surgery

Full and sensual lips render visually appealing appearance to your face. Those who have thin lips can consider lip augmentation cosmetic surgery. Lip enhancement can be done by lip fillers, lip implants, and fat transfer.

Candidates For Lip Augmentation

• Those with naturally thin lips
• Lips have lost definition
• You are not happy with the shape and size of your lips.
• Age-related reduction in the lip volume.

Who Are Good Candidates For Lip Augmentation

• The individual with a good health
• Non-smoker
• A patient with a realistic expectation.
• You should not have cold sore or skin infection

Treatments Available/Solution

1. Dermal Fillers- Dermal fillers are the most common lip augmentation procedure these days. Dermal fillers are injected into your lips to increase lip volume. The most common dermal filler is hyaluronic acid. It adds shape, structure, and volume to the lips. It causes less swelling and bruising than any other dermal fillers. Allergic reactions are also unlikely to happen. The effect is immediate but typically lasts for six months. A more common dermal filler that is being used today is collagen which is safe and also has a long-lasting impact.

2. Fat transfer- Fat from your own body is used and with the help of a syringe injected into your lips. As the minimal amount of fat is used in this procedure the fat is taken from the abdomen or inner thigh. The chances of allergy, rejection, and reaction are very less as fat is taken from your own body. This is a time taking method, and for optimal results, you may need several visits to your doctor.

3. Dermal grafts- In this procedure deeper tissues from underside your skin is extracted and then transferred to your lips. It gives optimum results.

4. Vermilion Advancement- In this method, a tiny incision is made along the vermilion border. After this, a strip of the skin from the upper lip and below the lip is removed. The vermilion is advanced out and up and sutured into the place. Lips shape is improved, and size increases.

5. Lip implants- Using a solid implant along the entire lip length the lip size is increased. Implant procedure takes about an hour and gives optimum results. Commonly used lip implant is soft silicon. It is specially shaped and tapered at the ends to provide a natural shape to the lips. The implant is available in different length and thickness, and your surgeon will choose the most appropriate one according to your face. Mostly lower lip requires a larger implant, and upper lip requires thinner and longer implant.

Precautions Before Lip Augmentation

• Your doctor will examine you, and lab tests will be done to rule out any severe disease that may hinder healing.
• Ask your doctor for the list of medicines you need to avoid before surgery. Usually, medicines and supplements that increase the risk of bleeding are to be avoided from a week before surgery.
• If you have an allergy, let your doctor know.
• Before the surgery avoid sun tanning.
• Discontinue smoking two weeks before surgery and alcohol a week before lip implant
• Stop eating or drinking anything after the midnight before surgery.
• If you wear dentures, you will need to remove them. Also, remove any jewelry or contact lenses if you are wearing them.
• Do not apply makeup on the day of surgery.

Procedure:

Under the lip, a small incision is made inside the mouth to insert lip implant. A small tunnel is made through the lips horizontally. Lip Implant is inserted near the corner on one side of your lip and passed horizontally to the other side through the entire length of the lip. To pull the implant into position a unique tool is used. Once the lip implant is inserted, a tiny self-dissolving suture is applied. Mostly implant is inserted in both the lips at the same time. The procedure is carried out using local anesthesia. The whole process takes an hour to complete.

What To Expect

After lip implant surgery there is swelling and bruising that subsides in a week. In a month lip implant looks presentable. The lip shape may take a few months to settle. The result is permanent. During the recovery period, your lips may appear swollen, bruised, puffy and irregular. Swelling and bruising subside in a week or so. For first few days you may find it difficult to talk, eat and drink.

Precautions After Surgery

• Apply a cold compress for the first week to minimize swelling.
• Avoid kissing
• Avoid talking a lot
• Avoid playing contact sports.
• Eat soft food for a few days.
• Avoid smoking during the healing process.
• Avoid direct exposure to the sun.
• Avoid makeup during the recovery period.

Associated risk and complications

The risk and complications are very low in the case of lip augmentation in comparison to other cosmetic surgeries. A few associated risk are:

• Infection
• Shifting of implant
• Scarring
• Stiffness of lips
• There are chances of allergy and rejection of implant by your body.

Report your doctor immediately if you experience worsening of pain and swelling.