Question: Are injectable fillers permanent or do they need to be replaced often?

Answer: Injectable fillers for the lips are not permanent, and I would highly recommend that you stay away from any permanent fillers for the lips since you have an extremely high likelihood of a future complication.  I prefer the temporary filler materials Restylane and Juvederm for lip augmentation since they are very soft, can be easily customized for each individual’s lip anatomy, and last a relatively long time at about six months.  If you are very insistent upon permanent improvement in the lips then I would consider a lip implant before I would consider a permanent injectable filler since the lip implant, should it shift or move, could easily be removed whereas a permanent filler material, if it shifted or moved, would be very difficult to remove in the future.

Question: I’d like to get a fuller appearance to my lips. I’ve heard that silicone strips can be implanted. How does this work and is it a good choice?

Answer: Silicone strips can be inserted into the lips and it is basically performed using local anesthetic and a very small incision is made into the corner of each lip.  A tunnel is created in the lip where the implant is then inserted and this implant obviously has volume to it and enhances the lip in this way.  Historically, I have placed many implants into patients’ lips and overall they have had a relatively low success rate since long term they tend to migrate or move slightly and ultimately in many instances need to be removed.  Silicone implants may be better than the old style Gore-Tex implants, but for now I still prefer the injectable fillers like Restylane and Juvederm.