Getting Lip Injections Without "Duck Look"?

I love doing lip enhancement procedures as it can be done on my patients that are 20 or my patients that are 60 years old.  There is no one filler that is best for everyone, but that also means there are options to help everyone achieve their specific desired goals for their lips.
There is a full range of desires when it comes to lip augmentation. There is a full range of desires for lip augmentation.  Often when patients come in for the first time they are often worried of looking “overdone” or having the dreaded “duck lips.”  However just like a breast augmentation, if patients could change anything after their lip augmentation they wish they would have gone bigger! 

Lip augmentation is about giving patients the shape that they desire, not just big lips.  The art in lip augmentation in molding and shape the lips.  The perfect lip augmentation is about giving the lips a natural, sexy appearance.  Just making the lips bigger is not beautiful.  Enhancing the size while creating a shape makes the face look more youthful.  Lip augmentation can create a cupid’s bow and improve the overall shape of the lips without a “fake” or “overdone” appearance.

There are several options for patients that want a very natural appearance to their lips:

Restylane Refyne and Restylane Silk are both great products for patients that want a subtle augmentation to their lips.  The Refyne is a new product that last up to a year giving patients a lasting result.  These are great starter products as they will enhance your lips, but give you a very soft and natural appearance. 

Juvederm Ultra Plus and Restylane and the workhorse products for fillers as they have been around for years and patients tend to love them.  They last about a 6-months in the lips. 

Resylane Defyne and Juvederm Vollure both last about up to a year.  Both of these products will give patients a little more volume and fullness to their lips.  The Vollure and Defyne will also last up to a year giving patients a lasting-result the will love for their lip enhancements.

Lip enhancement can be done as a simple procedure in the office.  Patients come to the office have numbing cream applied to their lips.  I give them about 15 to 20 min to let the cream take affect and then the actual process of the lip injections takes about ten minutes. 

Patients can return to work or their daily life immediately after the simple office procedure is completed. 

Please consult with your board-certified plastic surgeon about your lip augmentation options.  

The amount of filler used and where it is placed will determine the final shape of your lips. The duck look is often the result of patients requesting a full, voluminous upper lip. But no one is obliged to have this type of outcome.
Here is a patient example from my office at the Dr.U Clinic (see article link below) which closely resembles your case and what you are requesting. This lady also specifically requested to avoid the duck lip outcome. We achieved her goals for a natural looking fullness using Juvederm to accentuate her cupid’s bow and add more fullness to her lower lip.

Good question - No one wants "duck lips!"  If your unsure about the exact size as many patients are, I would suggest computer morphing to allow you to see what your lips could look like without actually doing any surgery. Pictures are taken of your lips and then altered with computer technology. Once you have a consistent goal regarding size and shape confirmed, you may consider receiving a filler to "see" if you like your new look. If you changed your mind after living with larger lips, don't worry, the fillers will go away. If you are happy with the result, you can have a lip augmentation with a more permanent solution. 
Hope this Helps.
Michael Kulick MD
   Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
   Member of ASPS, ASAPS
   Recipient of the Klingbeil Award – Teaching Safe Techniques and Advanced Technologies

Megan

The first thing an experienced injector will tell you, is to understand the limits of what is possible in the upper lips.  The duck bill is the result of unnatural overfill in the upper lip.  It is make worse when volume is placed in the lip about the vermillion lip edge.  The key is to appreciate that only a certain amount of volume is acceptable in a given lip.  In addition, additional volume is probable needed in the lower lip to help maintain the volume relationship between the two lips.

Lip augmentation with filler injection has become quite popular with the common use of hyaluronic acid filler such as Restylane, Perlane, and Juvederm.  It's important to have conservative volumes of injection initially to avoid the appearance of "duck lips".  In addition, it is important to leave the Cupid's bow accentuated to avoid the appearance of a "sausage" lip.  Seek an experienced injector for best results.

Lip augmentation is very very common. When done well, the reslts can look natural and strangers have no idea what you have had done. Unfortunately, people only seem to notice the "bad" lips - the "duck" appearing lips.  Make sure to select a plastic surgeon experienced in lip augmentation to avoid the bad results. Also, you may wnat to consider permanent lip augmentation with a solid silicone implant called PermaLip. I have been using these implants extensively and the results have been excellent.

I don't use fillers along the lip line for your problem. There are 2 ways to do this--one is with a silicone implant and the one I prefer is fat which I have used successfully for more than 30 years. It does require the "duck look" for 2-3 weeks while it is swollen, but this ALWAYS goes away.

 

Thank you for your question. In my office I like to use dermal fillers
such as Juvederm and Restylane Silk for lip augmentation. These are hyaluronic
acid fillers that can easily be dissolved with an enzyme known as hyaluronidase
if you are unhappy with the results. I recommend having a consultation with an
experienced and talented injector to determine the best treatment plan for you.
Best of Luck! 

Lips made to look beautifully plumped and contoured is one of my talents. The reason is that getting perfect lips is both an art and a science. But getting perfect lips is complicated. Before treatment I analyze the shape of your face in order to determine the right size desired. Then there is both the rim of the lip that gives contour, versus the body of the lip that gives plumpiness. Furthermore, some look better with only central 2/3 of the lips treated while others need the entire length of the lip enhanced. Lip fullness and definition can be achieved with the right filler. I like to start off with less rather than more, to avoid the "duck look". I customize your treatment to make your natural beauty stand out by injecting different areas. For example: enhancing the border rim, plumping the middle or enlarging and elongating the entire lip. Lips should contour the proportions of your face.

There are many techniques for lip augmentation.  IF the patient wants a permanent result then consider the PERMA facial implant.  This is a soft silicone lip implant.  Check it out below.