Thank you for your question.
You submitted a photo of your lips and you submitted a photo of an ideal appearance of
what you would like to achieve.
And in your question, you’re basically concerned about the proportion of the upper lip and
you don’t want to go overboard with the correction.
So you’re looking for some guidance on how to achieve this.
Well, I can certainly share with you my approach, doing this type of procedure which we do with
fillers every day of our practice.
A little bit of background, I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
And enhancing lips is a very significant part of our day to day practice because this is
an area that’s very popular, very sought after.
And I can certainly share with you a little bit about of the typical conversation is with
someone who either comes in interested in improving their lips or someone who, as I’m
doing their evaluation, I would discuss with them about the benefits of enhancing their
lips.
And the first concern is always not to look overdone, not to have duck lips, not to look
like xyz celebrity, not to look like many people who have certainly have not helped
the cause of improvement of lips without looking like you’ve gone overboard.
So I’ll share with you a little bit of the principles that guide me as to how I approach
my patients and how I guide them and do the procedure in a way that has been consistently
successful.
So to begin with, the photo, the ideal photo that you submitted has essentially showed
what is the ideal, to a degree, of a youthful balance of lips.
And it basically comes back to a universal proportion in nature called the golden ratio.
And the golden ratio is essentially a proportionality of the upper lip to the lower lip.
Throughout the appearance of an aesthetic face, when it comes to different lines and
balance between different areas of the face, but basically, the numbers are 1:1.6 where
the upper lips represents 1 and the lower lip represents 1.6.
A rough estimation can also be one thirds to two thirds.
Now that has to do with the volume of the lips.
Now in addition, we look at the vermilion border or the border of the lip liner would
be placed, the philtrum, the pillars.
There are a lot of little areas.
There are areas called G points in the lip.
So there’s a lot of artistry and understanding of what looks natural and then where you draw
the line as to balance.
One of the things that I think a lot of people are challenged by is the challenge of degree
of swelling after having lip injections done.
And I share with my patients that one of the ways that I’ve essentially evolved in approaching
that issue is through use of certain instruments in a way that delivers the material into the
body of the lip without needing multiple pokes.
And although certainly there are many doctors who believe in placing the injections directly
into the front of the lip or the pink part of the lip directly, I do it a little bit
differently and I’ve found it to be very predictable and very balanced and very nice.
Now there are a lot of ways to do this.
So technique is important.
In addition, it’s also about the aesthetic vision of the doctor and the patient.
So generally speaking, I would actually do something like put your pictures up on the
screen and I would show you the areas that I would want to add some volume.
And then essentially my general approach with this area is to be conservative and explain
to my patients that when we see you and follow-up in two weeks after the treatment, then we
can always add if we want to.
It’s a very delicate area that can swell and it can actually affect the perception
of what things will look like when swelling goes down and at the same time, people don’t
have a lot of downtime and they want to be able to, for example, have the procedure done
today and then be presentable tomorrow or even later on at the same day.
So I think it’s very important, technique does matter but more important is first the
vision of what the outcome will be.
So I think that you’re on the right track.
I would suggest to you that and I would agree with you that the upper lip is in disproportion
to the lower lip.
So enhancement with that area with, what I recommend usually, is a hyaluronic acid filler,
something that’s in the softer side, something like Restylane or Juvederm Ultra are going
to be really good options when it comes to enhancement of the lip area.
And I think that discussing with your prospective doctor, the techniques and what method will
most likely result in what they feel is going to be predictable.
But more importantly, minimize the amount of swelling that occurs after the procedure.
Sometimes, a little swelling is part of the reality because of the different areas that
need to be treated.
For example, if we treat the vertical lines of the lips, if we treat the border of the
lip as well as the pink part of the lips, well then there’s more manipulation that’s
done in that situation which means proportion, there’s likely to be more swelling.
But again, like I said, when I do this, I try to, especially for the pink part of the
lips, I actually approach it through special instrumentation so I only make one entry point
and I am able to add the volume with minimal trauma as possible and it has worked out well
for our patients.
So learn more about these options.
I think you’re on the right track and just find the doctor that best suits your personal
style and vision.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question.