Lip surgery is a method of cosmetic surgery that enlarges the size of lips. There are many factors to consider before choosing lip surgery. If you are currently discontent with your lip shape, there are two criteria you must meet: you must be in great health, both emotionally and physically, and you must have realistic expectations.

lip-surgeryFactors for not being a good candidate for lip surgery include smokers, current cold sores, history of poor scarring or connective tissue disorders, history of blood clots, those suffering from liver, lung or heart disease, poor circulation, and diabetes.

You must also alert your cosmetic surgeon if you are currently taking any prescription medications and have allergies. Those who discover they are good candidates can go on to enjoy escalated self-confidence, restored shape, balanced features of the facial area, and plumper appearance of the lips.

Costs

The national average plastic surgeon fees for lip surgery was reported at a range of $300 to $5,000, depending on the complexity and the number of methods applied. Other prices to consider include the surgical setting, anesthetics, and the cosmetic surgeon’s costs. Many surgeons and clinics provide plastic surgery financing plans.

Procedure

A local anesthetic will be injected during the cosmetic surgery lip surgery. The operation should take about 2 hours in the physician’s outpatient center, and patient’s are sent home the same day. Donor material, or the own fat of the patient will be injected.

If the plastic surgeon uses the patient’s own fat for the lip surgery, which is usually taken from the abdominal area, he will make an incision around the upper lip lines. The skin will be cut away above the lip, then sutured along the incision line.

If the doctor decides to use donor material, usually from the skin of cadavers, he will insert the material through small incisions inside the corner areas of your mouth. Sutures will close the incision sites. There is minimal pain in the plastic lip surgery, probably a light stinging every time the injection is inserted.

Fuller appearances of the lips should be seen within a couple of days after the augmentation is completed and the swelling recedes.

Risks

Complications for lip augmentation are infrequent, but there is the possibility of unexpected results, slow healing process, reaction to the anesthetics, risk of infection and moderate bleeding.

Other factors that could last up to a week include hard spots in the tissues, numbness, cold sores, bleeding or redness surrounding the lip region, bruising, and swelling. Complications with cosmetic lip surgery could involve infection, slight scarring or lumping, an allergic reaction, dislocation of the implant material, stiffness that is permanent, loss of the natural lip line and lips that appear asymmetrical.

Healing

The lip injection takes a few days to heal, while surgical implants take up to 2 weeks. You can resume work activity within 2-3 days. Your doctor will go over any other necessary steps to take for a faster recovery time.