Are You a Good Candidate for a Lip Enhancement?

At the office of Steven H Dayan, MD in Chicago, IL, clients often come in dissatisfied with the size, shape, and symmetry of their lips. They feel frustrated because they don't know what they can do to improve their self-esteem and enhance the appearance of their lips. Today, we reveal who is a good candidate for lip enhancement as well as everything else you need to know.

Am I a Good Candidate for a Lip Enhancement?

The only way to determine for sure that you are a good candidate for lip enhancement is to come in for an initial consultation. During this initial consultation, Dr. Steven Dayan will review your medical history, current health, facial structure, and aesthetic goals to determine if this treatment is a good fit for you. Here's a general overview of what we look for:

You Don't Have Uncontrolled Diabetes

When determining who is a good candidate for lip enhancement, we look for people who do not have uncontrolled diabetes. If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes and it is controlled by insulin, you may still be a good candidate for this treatment. Unfortunately, in some cases, diabetes affects the body's ability to heal. We want your recovery to be quick.

You Don't Have Blood Diseases

Rapid, comfortable recovery is just as important to us as how satisfied you are with the results of your treatment. As a result, we look for potential candidates who do not suffer from connective tissue disorders, lupus, sickle cell anemia, and other blood-clotting disorders.

You Don't Suffer From Chronic Cold Sores

We want our clients to be completely satisfied with the results of their procedure. Therefore, we look for potential candidates who do not suffer from herpes simplex virus type 1, more commonly referred to as chronic cold sores. This condition may affect the results of lip correction.

Your Lips Are Asymmetrical

Many people develop asymmetrical lips as they age because they do not lose collagen evenly throughout their lips. Some people find that their lower lip becomes disproportionately large to their rapidly thinning upper lip. Others find they lose more collagen and volume on the left side of their upper lip than their upper right lip.

Dr. Steven Dayan has an eye for art, beauty, and symmetry. If you are concerned about the appearance of asymmetrical lips, he can restore symmetry to your lips. This holds true whether you only want your lips to become symmetrical again or you want to restore symmetry to your lips while volumizing your lips.

You Have Wrinkles Around Your Mouth

One of the most compelling signs that you are a good candidate for lip enhancement is that you have wrinkles around your mouth. You may be surprised that losing volume in your lips causes wrinkles around your mouth. But it's true. Dermal fillers injected into the lips smooth the fine lines and moderate wrinkles around your mouth.

You Have Realistic Expectations About the Results

To be a good candidate for this treatment, it is absolutely critical that you have realistic expectations about the results. Dermal fillers can make an incredible difference in the size, shape, and symmetry of your lips. However, it is unrealistic to expect the treatment to completely change the shape of your lips.

During your initial consultation, Dr. Steven Dayan will review your current aesthetic and aesthetic goals to determine which formulation is ideal for your unique needs. Some formulations are ideal for subtle, yet durable, enhancements to volume. Other formulations are ideal for incredibly dramatic increases to volume.

You Don't Smoke

There is a common misconception that there is nothing wrong with being a smoker as long as you're not undergoing an invasive medical procedure. However, smoking affects your body's ability to clot blood, which can affect the smooth, natural aesthetic usually achieved by lip augmentation via dermal filler injection.

In fact, if you consume nicotine in any form, including vaping, chewing gum and chewing tobacco, let Dr. Steven Dayan know during your initial consultation. This will be a significant factor in determining whether this is the right treatment for you and what alternatives would be better if it's not a good fit.

You Can Stop Taking Certain Medications and Supplements

You may take baby aspirin for your heart health every day. You may take naproxen or ibuprofen for daily aches and pains. You may take vitamin E supplements for your skin health or fish oil supplements for your joints. However, the aforementioned supplements and pharmaceuticals are just part of the list of things you need to stop taking before your treatment.

Remember, if your body's ability to clot blood is impeded, your results may not be smooth and natural-looking. During your initial consultation, we will provide you with a comprehensive list of what to avoid in the days leading up to and following your treatment. Ask your general care physician if you can stop taking these safely.

How to Prepare for Treatment

One Week Before Lip Injections

In the week leading up to your treatment, stop taking any medications that can thin your blood. These include Aleve, ibuprofen, Motrin, naproxen, and aspirin. Tylenol is perfectly fine to take if you experience any discomfort or pain before treatment.

You must also avoid dietary supplements that can thin your blood or affect your body's ability to clot blood. These include primrose oil, vitamin E supplements, garlic supplements, and ginseng.

Two Days Before Lip Injections

Two days before your scheduled appointment, stop using topical anti-aging products. You must also avoid using topical products including glycolic acid, retinoids, retinol, and tretinoin. You should not wax, bleach, tweeze, or use hair removal cream around your mouth. If you have a bleeding disorder, we recommend taking Arnica supplements.

The Day Before Lip Injections

Very little preparation is required on the day before your lip augmentation treatment. You are free to exercise and eat as normal. However, you should not consume alcohol within 24 hours of your treatment.

The Day of Your Treatment

The day of your treatment, wash your face and come in without makeup or other topical products.

What to Expect During Treatment

If you're a good candidate to have your lips enhanced with dermal fillers, you're probably wondering what you can expect during treatment. To start, Dr. Steven Dayan numbs your lips with a topical or local numbing agent so you don't feel the needle. A topical numbing cream takes around 15 minutes to take effect.

If you are allergic to numbing agents, your lips may be numbed with ice. However, our clients who do not have their lips numbed before treatment report that they did not experience any pain at the injection sites.

How the Treatment Is Performed

If you want your lips numbed, your lips will be numbed. Once the numbing has taken effect, your lips will be cleansed with an alcohol-based cleanser. Then, the areas to be injected will be marked. Finally, very fine needles are used to inject the dermal filler into the carefully selected and marked points.

Most formulations for enhancing the lips include lidocaine. Lidocaine is a liquid anesthetic that numbs the local area. However, if you are allergic to lidocaine, you will be injected with a formulation that does not include lidocaine. Clients who receive injections without lidocaine are encouraged to apply ice to their lips after treatment to ensure they feel no discomfort.

What to Expect After Treatment

Comfort

After treatment, you may want to apply ice to your lips for five to 10 minutes at a time for the first six hours after treatment. However, you should not expect to feel pain after treatment. Icing your lips will speed up the results of treatment. Do not take NSAIDs after treatment. NSAIDs can affect your body's ability to clot blood.

Massage

We strongly encourage our clients to massage their lips to further enhance the results of their treatment. After your treatment, Dr. Steven Dayan will give you a thorough explanation regarding how, and how often, you should massage your lips. Follow every one of his directions. If you forget or have any questions, please call and ask. We are happy to clarify the instructions.

No Bruising

Unless you have a blood disease or take NSAIDs, you will not experience bruising after lip augmentation via dermal fillers. If you forget and take NSAIDs before or after treatment, Arnica pills or cream will erase the bruising. We also recommend that our clients sleep on their back with their head slightly elevated to ensure a smooth recovery.

Skip Leg Day

We know. You can't imagine not going to the gym. You are free to go to the gym before treatment, however, you should avoid exercise for 24 hours after your treatment. You must avoid excessive heat and sweat. Therefore, you should also refrain from sunbathing, tanning, saunas, steam rooms, and hot showers. You are free to walk at a moderate pace and take tepid baths.

Don't Fly Internationally

Dermal fillers are FDA-approved for efficacy and safety. However, they put a good deal of pressure on your lips. We encourage our clients to avoid flying internationally for seven days after your treatment because it's not ideal to be exposed to cabin pressure for that long.

If you are planning an international trip in the near future, we strongly encourage you to schedule your appointment for two to three weeks in advance of your scheduled trip. This allows you time to come in for your follow-up two weeks after treatment to confirm you don't need a follow-up treatment.

You Will Have a Follow-Up Appointment

Not everyone gets perfect results from their first treatment session. Some clients think they want a certain amount of volume added to their lips. After two weeks, they may decide the results are not quite dramatic enough. Other clients discover that their lips are too large for their personal preferences.

One of the most unfortunate misconceptions about dermal fillers is that you can't reverse treatment. If you decide your lips look too large, let us know during your follow-up appointment. We can inject you with a chemical compound that "eats" the hyaluronic acid and reverses the effects of treatment.

Discover How to Enhance Your Lips Today

Are your lips asymmetrical? Have you lost volume in your lips recently? Do you feel the size or shape of your lips could be enhanced? Do you receive comments about the appearance of your lips? If so, lip enhancement may be right for you.

To determine if you are a good candidate for lip enhancement, please contact the office of Steven H Dayan, MD in Chicago, IL today to schedule your initial consultation. We can't wait to hear from you soon and craft a custom plan to help you boost your self-esteem.