The plump, pink part of the lips contains a high concentration of collagen which helps to create their volume. Because collagen breaks down with time, and new collagen production slows as we move from adolescence, our lips can often lose the volume and shape they once had. This alters our appearance, even though it is a slow and subtle process.

 

Thankfully for those of us who would prefer our lips to have their more youthful, plump appearance again, injectable fillers can produce very satisfying and pleasing results.

 

Because the lips are extremely sensitive the procedure is very painful and so usually a local anaesthetic is administered beforehand. The anaesthetic of choice is an injection as this is much more effective than the alternative, an anaesthetic cream.

 

Sometimes the very sensitivity of the lips can lead to immediate swelling when the needle is introduced (and even before any filler is injected), so it is quite common to find the lips swollen for a short time after the treatment. However, this swelling resolves quickly. In skilled hands the treatment does not lead to the horrific end results (trout pouts) made famous in the media!