I had what I considered advanced loss of volume in my lip area (upper mainly) & hated my permanently pursed look. I tried fillers a few times and while it worked, it did not last longer than 6 months & I was bruised for weeks. I heard about a more permanent solution: fat grafts from my own tummy fat into my lips so I set off researching who could perform this procedure near me. No professional in my area of Florida could do it or knew who to refer me to. A friend knew someone in Chicago as did others say NY and Miami. All were too far for me. On-line research lead me to Dr. Paul S. Howard, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Birmingham, AL who had all the qualifications. He's an expert in lip repair (cleft pallet) and has performed this fat grafting/transfer procedure for 10 years. I travelled 4 hours each way for a consult and he confirmed that I would be a good candidate. I scheduled the procedure & just had it done about 2 1/2 weeks ago. It was quite involved with the fat removal (lipo) and all (preparing fat for transfer and the fat injections themselves), but Dr. Howard and his staff may sure I was not in discomfort. The first week I was very swollen & bruised and I iced constantly, which helped tremendously. By the second week the swelling & bruising came down and I could see what I hoped I would look like. I'm mid way into week 3 and I have a natural look right now - especially my upper lip area. Except for some asymmetry in my new fuller bottom lip that I was told to massage to distribute the fat during this window of time, I am very pleased with the results. I sure hope it lasts permanently as Dr. Howard says! I would be a shame to go through all this just to have it reabsorb. Everyone tells me it is permanent (I think this may be too good to be true, but my fingers are crossed)! Dr. Howard makes you feel like you are in very capable hands and his staff is very nice and knowledgeable. I have told everyone I know (and even some strangers) of my experience and told them to go see Dr. Howard for whatever they need and they will receive excellent care!
Updated on 11 Aug 2013:
Here are the before & after pics
Updated on 14 Aug 2013:
Picture 3-weeks after
Updated on 14 Aug 2013:
Here's a picture taken after 3 weeks