Lip Plumper - Risks and Side Effects

Risks and Side Effects

Most patients are satisfied with their lip augmentation procedure and would undergo the treatment again. Several studies have found fat grafting of the lip to be one of the best methods of maintaining a semi-permanent fuller and softer lip. When the lips are overfilled, the results can be comic, often supplying fodder to tabloid newspapers and offbeat websites. This look is sometimes mockingly called a 'trout pout.' Overaggressive injections can lead to lumpiness while too little can result in ridges.

Common reactions can range from redness, swelling or itching at the injection site(s). Other possible complications include bleeding, uneven lips, movement of the implants or extrusion, when an implant breaks through the outermost surface of the skin. The usual, expected swelling and bruising can last from several days to a week.

Some patients are allergic to the common local anesthetics like lidocaine and probably should not consider lip injections. Some react badly to the skin test that patients must take before receiving collagen. Other patients who should not forego procedures to the lip include those who have active skin conditions like cold sores, blood clotting problems, infections, scarring of the lips or certain diseases like diabetes or lupus that cause slower healing. Patients with facial nerve disorders, severe hypertension or recurrent herpes simplex lesions should also eschew lip augmentation. As in all surgeries, smokers complicate completion of their procedure as well as the speed of healing.

Fat transfer can last longer than other injected materials but can have lumping or scarring effects. The length of time a fat transfer may last in the lips is often determined by how much the area moves and how close it is to a major blood supply. In addition, the donor fat must be harvested from another area of the patient's body which leaves another—albeit tiny—surgical wound. However, donor fat harvesting techniques have become extremely well refined.

Gore-tex, despite its impressive rates of success in lip augmentation and other procedures, is nonetheless a foreign body which bears a slight risk of becoming infected or rejected.