Lips are very personal and come in all shapes and sizes with each patient having a very strong idea of what is beautiful to them or what they like or dislike in lips.
Lips are the most talked about and misunderstood treatment amongst the general public and patients. Most patients presenting to clinic are fearful that they would either look done or that they will look unnatural or get the “dreaded duck look”. Social media and the news are the biggest contributors to the misconception that lips = duck. Unfortunately, patients also pose in such a way to create a duck look when their lips are perfectly normal. The “duck look” is created by either injecting the wrong choice of filler or too much filler into the wrong anatomical area.
The popularity of lip fillers is the result of “everybody” wanting to capitalise and either inject fillers themselves or go to someone who are cheaper. Lip treatments are complex as a lot of important features need to be considered with regards to balance and its relation to the rest of the face. The lips need to be treated with respect to its shape, curve and natural undulations.
Furthermore, the anatomy of the lip is complex with plenty of nerves, arteries and veins. Treatments can be dangerous if injected into the wrong space and can happen to anyone.
Therefore, make sure your injector is experienced but also able to recognise and know what to do when things do go wrong. Other considerations with lips are that they are not only sensual but also functional. They are important in eating and moving food. So, in the elderly this can change as the lips are much thinner and start to disappear which can make drinking and eating difficult in some age categories. Furthermore, lip borders lose their definition and can look aged with wrinkles and loss of plumpness. Lip fillers come in either 0.5, 0.8 or 1ml of lip filler where 1ml is the equivalent to a 5th of a teaspoon. There are two types of fillers used in lips. One type is softer to moisturise the lip and define the border, mostly used in the mature lip. Another stronger filler is used to plump the lip and make it project. Both treatment modalities can be used together or in isolation with very good effect. Remember that filler treatments are a medical procedure.
