“Gortex Lip Implants Do Not Look or Feel Natural ”

Dear Ccscissors, Hindsight is always 20/20. Goretex has been around for many years. Some of the best man-made vascular conduits for reconstructing the aorta and major arteries in bypass surgery were made from this material. When it became available for facial reconstruction and cosmetic surgery, many of us used it based on good science. But - time makes liers of many. As time passed, this material has slowly shown itself not to be as well tolerated by the body as we thought and we most of us stopped using it.The problem I have is with doctors who fail to know the history and persist on using outdated technology. The most challenging location for implant placement has been the lip. The requirements for lip augmentation are that the implant be essentially undetectable, impalpable and pliable / soft. NO implant has EVER filled this role and this holds in spades for implants which the body never incorporated but instead walled off with scar tissue. The vast majority of Goretex (PTFE) implant placed in the lip look artificial, are palpable and had to be removed for these reasons as well as complications such as capsule and infection. The ONLY positive attribute with Goretex lip implants is that the body cannot really invade them with scar tissue and assimilate them. This makes them VERY EASY to pull out. Any plastic surgeon can do it. I suspect no one wanted to do it for fear that they will be then held responsible for any lip deformity you MAY HAVE which may be unveiled once the Goretex implant is removed. This is a potential consideration NOT a definite fact. Hope this helped. Dr. Peter Aldea

I have had several cosmetic procedures over the years, but the only one I regret is my lip implants. My lips were/are very small, and the doctor made an incision around my nose in order to "lift" my lips which changed the appearance of my nose which I liked very, very much. I told him I liked my nose and wanted assurance this procedure would not change my nose. He said no, and that is not true. Plus, what lips I now have are ugly, and my smile is awful. I did a lot of research before the procedure in 2005, and I felt comfortable with what I read and what the doctor told me. Now, I want them removed, but I have been told that my nose will remain the same, and that the area around my mouth will probably look worse than it now does. Oh, well. If only I could go back. I may not have had lips, but I had a great smile.

Hi there, I also had the gortex lip implant in my upper lip 11 years ago.My scar tissue was massive in my lip. The implant is more towards the middle of my lip instead of the lip line. I took an all natural product to help dissolve some of the scar tissue but some of it still remains.I was hoping If I dissolved some of the scar tissue that it would look better and I could smile fully again. It did work some what but not like I expected. I still can't smile fully and to make matters worse. The skin above my lip, under my nose has stretched out over the years from trying t o smile. It had to over compensate for my lip not being able t o smile. It has gotten longer and wider and If It gets any worse I'll look deformed. I'm so full of regret, wish I could go back too.My fear is that it'll keep getting worse and worse over time and I'll look hideous cause it is still changing till this day. If I have it removed will cutting into my lip again t o retreive it create more scar tissue creating more retraction or will It look sunken in or rolled under? I think the remaining scar tissue if any will prevent this but I'm not sure. Can anyone help? Anyone had theirs removed with bad results?