Gortex in my Upper Lip, Can I Have Restylene Injected?

asked 6 months ago by Lastdance in Scotch Plains, NJ
Latest answer by Steven Wallach, MD
Question viewed 234 times
Tags: lips, candidate, Gore-Tex

Years ago, I had gortex put into my upper lip. Aging has caused my lips to thin. I'd like to have Restylene injected. Can this be done with the existing gortex in my upper lip? I'd rather not remove the gortex, just add the filler if possible. Thanks for your answer!

10 answers to Gortex in my Upper Lip, Can I Have Restylene Injected?

Goretex implant and fillers

I would go to a very experienced injector to be evalutated. There certainly is an increased risk of complications with lip injections and having a foreign body in your lip.

Steven Wallach, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Gortex in my Upper Lip, Can I Have Restylene Injected?

I am one of the early pioneers that used Goretex threads for Lip Augmentation which I substituted with Alloderm some 15 years ago. IMHO, the biggest concern with the goretex, in your lip, is avoid any trauma or bleeding around the goretex as this can cause the body to reject the material as a foreign body. If the Restylane or Juvederm is injected along the Vermillion border (and the Goretex is in the middle of the lip) that would most likely be far enough away from the... more

Francis R. Palmer, III, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Restylane Injections Into Lips With Existing Gortex Implants

Hi Last, Injections into an area where an implant is located must be done with extreme care and caution. Facial implants form a capsule around them and there is no blood supply inside the capsule. Should a very small number of bacteria from your skin or mouth get into the implant capsule during injection there is the possibility of a delayed infection 5 to 7 days later. If that occurs, then you would need antibiotics and usually the implant would be removed. ... more

Michael A. Persky, MD
Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

Removing the Gortex is not so easy.

Filling the lip with Restylane is a very practical option. You need to have an injector with experience in lip shaping. However, you should do fine with this option.

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD
Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Goretex lip implants are compatible with HA fillers

There is no reason to remove the Goretex lip implant prior to lip augmentation with HA fillers. Make sure your injector is aware that the lip implant is in place. Seek out an injector that does a lot of lip injections.

Scott Sattler, MD
Bellevue Plastic Surgeon

Restylane after Gortex

Restylane is compatible with Goretex (polytetrafluoroethylene), but it requires a great deal of expertise. It needs to be injected carefully and slowly by an experienced operator . The good thing is that if too much ends up being injected in an area, it can at least partially be removed by injecting Hyaluronidase. Make sure that you are being treated by an experienced, Boars Certified Dermatologist or Plastic Surgeon

Eugene Mandrea, MD
Chicago Dermatologist

www.lakeviewderm.com

Goretex Implants are Fine with Fillers

There is no need to remove a lip implant in order to have fillers. In fact, with the implant you probably will not require as much filler as the Goretex is providing volume enhancement. When placing fillers, I cautiously inject around the implant and have never found there to be any problems.

Jonathan Sonne, MD
Naples Facial Plastic Surgeon

Restylane Lip Injection with Gortex Lip Implant

Yes, you can have Restylane or other hyaluronic acid lip injections when you have a gortex implant in place. There is no need to remove the gortex implant.

Anifat Balogun, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Can Restylane be injected after a permanent implant?

Yes, but the chances of having lumps or bumps increases because there is a fixed object that the product gel has to flow around. Removing the goretex is also a hard thing to do in some instances because it probably has been in place long enough to have attached itself pretty firmly. I would try a small amount of injection to see how it looks and then decide whether more is appropriate.

Kenneth Beer, MD
Palm Beach Dermatologic Surgeon

www.palmbeachcosmetic.com

Yes you can

I've have several patients with gortex implants in their lips and have successfully treated them with hyaluronic acid products. Please be sure to go to a board certified physician for this procedure - and make sure they inject very slowly - this will allow the product to move easily into the most volume depleted areas, and will reduce pain and bruising. Good luck!