Lip augmentation is commonly performed at plastic surgicentre in Doha, Qatar. Lip

augmentation is a procedure to increase the size of the lips in order to make them more full and voluptuous. It often involves putting something into the lips to fill them up. A variety of substances have been used for this purpose including fat or fibrous tissue from your own body, or other materials such as collagen, silicon, goretex fibers, etc. In addition, there are surgical techniques for bringing some of the tissue from the inside part of the lip out to make the lip look bigger.

If you are self-conscious about your lips, then this surgery can open up many new possibilities for changing your image, and you can further enhance them with new lipstick, makeup, etc. As with most cosmetic surgery, the benefit you derive will depend upon the change in attitude that you will have about yourself as a result of the surgery.

Technique:

A natural or synthetic biocompatible material, or the patient’s own fat, is injected or implanted in the lips. One injection is usually sufficient to produce the desired result, which may be temporary, depending on the material used. Injections may need to be repeated periodically. Proper placement of the injected material is important. AlloDerm, a natural collagen sheet made from donated skin, is inserted through tiny incisions inside the corners of the mouth. Once the AlloDerm implant is in place, it eventually becomes integrated with the natural tissues. Gore-Tex, SoftForm and soft ePTFE are other synthetic implant options.

Further options include:

Autologen – injectable dermal implant material made from the patient’s own skin.
Dermalogen – injectable Human Tissue Matrix (HTM) procured from donor tissue.
Fascia – injectable donor tissue made from the dense white connective tissue that supports body structure. Can also be done as a surgical implant.
HylaForm – a crystal-clear injectable gel; the hyaluronic acid in Hylaform is similar to that naturally found in the body.
Radiance – calcium hydroxylapatite
Restylane – crystal-clear injectable gel; the hyaluronic acid in Restylane is very close to that naturally found in the body.
Another augmentation choice is laser lip rejuvenation, which tightens the natural collagen and elastic tissue beneath the lips.

Benefits:

Immediate return to normal activities (one-day return if sedated) for nonsurgical procedures; depending on the procedure and materials used, recovery period is within a week for surgical procedures.
AlloDerm and Dermalogen do not require patients to provide donor tissue and are not rejected by the body, because they are human tissue. Usually they have a pliable, natural feel.
Gore-Tex implants are permanent, easily inserted and well tolerated by the body.
Temporary procedures like collagen or fat injection can be appealing to patients who want to experiment with a fuller-lipped look, but not necessarily commit to it.
Other Considerations:

Allergic reactions can range from prolonged redness, swelling or itching, to firmness at the injection site. Other possible complications include bleeding, lip asymmetry, and migration and extrusion of the implant. Normal swelling and bruising lasts from three days to a week.
Patients with a reaction to the pre-treatment collagen skin test; who have a serious allergy history; or are allergic to lidocaine (a local anesthetic) should not consider lip augmentation. Treatment is sometimes postponed for patients with active inflammatory skin conditions or with infections.
Collagen injections have a short-lived effect (9-12 weeks); fat injections provide longer-lasting results, but are sometimes unpredictable as to the degree of improvement, can have lumping or scarring effects, and must be harvested from another part of the body.
Soft-form is a foreign body and may become infected or be rejected. While many techniques exist for lip augmentation, none are ideal.

Several alternatives exist. Lipstick and makeup may be used to make the lips appear larger than they are. Tattooing of the lips has also been done in order to give the appearance of larger size. Surgical correction includes filling the lips or in rolling tissue from the inside of the lip towards the outside.

Fortunately, although the lips are quite sensitive, they are not too sensitive to small cuts (which happen all the time from the teeth), and pain after the surgery is usually quite minimal. During the surgery, of course, the lip would be numb, and it would not hurt at all.

Unfortunately, the results will not last forever. The body is always changing, and will absorb fat or collagen that is placed in the lips. In addition, the lips get smaller with age, and surgery will not halt this process.

You may decide to make the lips too big at first, in order to have the augmentation last longer. In this case, you may look a bit peculiar for the first few days after the surgery, and may want to stay home from work. Most normal activities can be resumed within a few days.

The information on this web site is only intended as an introduction to this procedure and should not be used to determine whether you will have the procedure performed nor as a guarantee of the result.

The best method of determining your personal options is to schedule a personal consultation with Dr. Makki. He will be able to answer specific questions related to your situation.

Please don’t hesitate to call for any questions that you might have