Lumps, sagging lips, and smokers lines well after injection - can I try anything else? (photos)

The big problem you are having with fillers are injectors who do not understand what they are injecting. It is not entirely their fault. Sadly most injectors simply believe marketing hype and do not investigate things for themselves. They uncritically believe marketing when they are told products like Volbella, or Juvederm are good for lip effect treatment. Virtually all fillers that are marketed for the lip edge are runny. That means that once placed, the product will not hold as it was originally place. Rather it migrates out of the tight lip edge to create a lip shelf or fullness in the mouth corners. The solution is to avoid these runny products. It is actually helpful to use a product with a very high g prime. Restylane is actually a fantastic product for lip edge treatment.

Hello, and thank you for your question. It isn’t typical for patients to always experience lumps after dermal filler injections. Also, lumps as a side effect should be felt or seen days after treatment and should resolve within 1-2 weeks. Perhaps, you might need another type of filler and a more experienced and skilled injector to perform the treatment. In addition to dermal fillers, treatments for smoker’s lines include lasers, chemical peels, RF microneedling (Profound RF), and other treatments that stimulate collagen production.

The best way to find out the best approach for your lip augmentation and smoker’s lines treatment is to have an in-person consultation with a reputable board-certified facial plastic surgeon, particularly one with extensive experience with injectables and other techniques for skin rejuvenation. Your surgeon can assess your lips and skin quality, recommend and customize the best procedure plan, and ensure the best possible results.

Thank you for your question. While a fine filler like volbella can help somewhat, I find that often the results are underwhelming. For smoker's lines, I prefer either laser resurfacing or a chemical peel. This will help efface the lines and rebuild collagen. Regarding a sagging lip, a lip lift is really the only treatment for that. Fillers add volume, but cannot shorten the lip itself. I hope this information is helpful to you, and all the best.
-Dr. P