Lip Enhancement with Juvederm Ultra Plus - Amherst, NY

Day 8: Happy to report I experienced no bruising at all! And swelling was not even noticeable. It occurred to me after I wrote the review that may have had that (very minimal -- like the size of an apple seed in 2 spots on the outer edges of my lips) bruising last time only because I forgot that you're supposed to wait for several days AFTER the procedure before taking Vitamin E or aspirin or other blood thinners! On my way home from the appointment I stopped at a health store to look for Arnica and they were giving out free samples of chewable multivitamins and I tried one without even thinking - then I looked at it and saw it had Vitamin E - OOPS! So my guess is that had I not done that I wouldn't have had bruising that time either, since it was so tiny even with the vitamin E! BTW, I did NOT use Arnica either time - it cost over $35 for a tiny bottle which seemed ridiculous, and I had read several scientific studies showing that Arnica did NOT reduce bruising as compared to placebo (if the bottle had cost $5-$10 I may have bought it anyway figuring it couldn't hurt but I wasn't going to spend $35 for something with no proof it works). And it turns out not to have been necessary anyway. :-)

I wanted to restore lost volume in my lips and enhance the contour. I am so happy with the results! I researched and and spoke with several cosmetic centers in the area and I chose Dr. Koch both because of his excellent reviews and because he does all the injections himself. I'm sure that nurses who are experienced with injectables do excellent work; however, it makes me feel better knowing the doctor is there just in case of the rare allergic reaction or complication. I had about half a syringe total of Juvederm Ultra Plus in my upper and lower lips on December 19 (mostly to the inside for fullness, and just a bit along the outer border of my lower lip) and today I went for a follow-up to have a bit more applied to the inside center of my lower lip (I still have some of the syringe left, and the office lets you store any remaining product for up to 6 months). Dr. Koch gave me exactly what I wanted: completely natural looking, perfectly symmetrical, full lips, with no lumps. After reading lots of reviews about lip augmentation, I was a bit apprehensive about possible pain. But I had no pain whatsoever - in fact I felt nothing at all! They (Dr. Koch this time, his nurse assistant last time) applied a lidocaine cream to my lips and let me sit for about 15 minutes until the area was completely numb. The first time, the nurse came in after about 15 minutes and asked if I was numb and, since I tend to be sensitive to pain, I asked if we could wait a few more minutes (I really appreciate the "no-rush" patient-centered attitude of the office, and I should mention that everyone there is extremely friendly and professional and put me at ease from the minute I arrived). I closed my eyes when Dr. Koch did the injecting and the only reason I knew the needle was going in because he told me! Today, again, I felt nothing! I could look in the mirror as he was doing the injections and see the results immediately so I could say if I wanted more anywhere. After it was done, they gave me a couple of little "blue ice" packs right away and said that icing the site as much as possible would reduce any bruising or swelling. Both times I used them as much as possible for the rest of the day and also had followed the instructions about no aspirin, ibuprofen, vitamin E, etc, for 2 weeks prior. With the first injections, I had only mild swelling for the first few days (I think my lips actually swelled more from the lidocaine than from the injections, because after a few hours the swelling had reduced greatly and stayed that way). I could easily have gone to work as soon as the numbing cream effects went away and I don't think anyone would have noticed. The numbness makes it feel a bit hard to talk (although nothing like dental work, and it was probably much more noticeable to me than to anyone else) and the cream and/or the injections causes some slight redness right on and around the mouth, sort of like when you drink something hot or eat spicy food - but that all went away after about an hour. In fact I probably could have gone to work straight from the appointment and no one would have noticed anything. But I had taken the day off and I did some errands and kept icing while driving. I had very mild bruising starting on day 2 and lasting until day 5 (two tiny spots about the size of an apple seed, which I could easily cover with lipstick). Right now I am only 8 hours out from the second injection appointment, and again, there's very little swelling and no bruising at all. I will update this if I have any bruising or swelling in the next few days.