Full, beautiful naturally delicious-looking lips are now an option for almost anyone. Enhancing your lips is both an art and a science. Although there are a few scary examples of celebrities who have overdone it, with a skilled professional, mild improvements to the lips can have stunning effects.
If you are contemplating lip filler for the first time, our philosophy is “take it slow and keep it natural.” We may even recommend you come in a couple of times over a couple of weeks. This helps us fully evaluate the effects of a first mild treatment, which we can then perfect further in a follow-on visit.
When you see the beautiful effects, it is no wonder getting a little lip work is on the rise…Just in the last year such procedures increased by 9%.
On a daily basis, Dr. Janowski helps patients achieve natural and beautifully defined lips. Here’s some guidance on what to expect from your first lip filler experience.
So what should you expect?
Get Educated
For over a decade, Dr. Janowski has been helping patients achieve natural looking full lips. It is true of all aesthetic procedures, but bad lip work can be especially noticeable. Experience makes the difference!
We use hyaluronic acid-based fillers (usually Restylane Silk – more on that soon). The results of such fillers can almost always be completely reversed. Hyaluronic acid-based fillers can be “erased” with an enzyme called hyaluronidase. This enzyme dissolves the filler in about 5-minutes.
However, we should let you know, we very rarely see patients reverse the results of their lip enhancement (or any other) procedure. Dr. Janowski is a true pro.
Be Prepared
To reduce and minimize bleeding and bruising, a week before your appointment, avoid fish oil supplements and any other blood thinning non-essential medication and vitamins, such as aspirin and Vitamin E.
Also, don’t forget, age is a factor in the likelihood for bruises – as the older we are, the more likely we are to bruise.
Plan the procedure. While many patients have just a few hours of swelling, for others there can be a defined recuperation period where your lips are mildly bruised and swollen. In almost all cases bruising and swelling completely subsides within a week. Results are fully evident within one to two weeks of the procedure.
The Procedure
Dr. Janowski uses Restylane Silk. It is a product created just for lips. It is smoother and having smaller particulates than other filler. This helps reduce the temporary bumpiness that used to be associated with lip filler. Silk is the first FDA-approved product specifically designed for lip enhancement and the smoothing of wrinkles around the mouth.
Our lips are sensitive. Although the procedure itself is short, usually just 4 – 10 tiny quick injections, getting even these small quick injections in the lip can be painful (and bloody). The injection itself comes loaded with numbing agent (lidocaine), yet with many patients we take further steps to mitigate pain.
Firstly, we can put numbing cream on your lips. While it can take up to 30 minutes for this cream to fully numb your lips, it may be worth it if you feel you are especially sensitive.
Also, we often use a “dental block” to fully mitigate all feeling during the procedure. This is an injection that blocks all sensation and is most commonly used by dentists when they are doing fillings or other work that requires the mouth to be numbed.
Post Procedure
The full effects of your treatment take one to two weeks. There is often some swelling that can cause the lips to look fuller than the treatment alone intends. Swelling, bruising and bleeding dissipate within hours of your treatment.
We don’t exactly call this a “no downtime” treatment. We strongly suggest you plan a lip enhancement a couple of weeks before a major event. This is because some patients take a little more time to fully recover.
Restylane Silk as a 96% “worth it” rating from Real Self. Our patients have been so satisfied with their results, almost all who come in for this treatment once, come in again with in four to six months. While the results are subtle, a slight change to the contour and fullness of our lips has a huge impact on how good we look and how sexy we feel.
*Results may vary from patient to patient