28 Year Old Male PermaLip (5mm) in Los Angeles

I've never had lip fillers before for two reasons...
1. As a guy I was always afraid of having a "done look", it's not attractive on women but even less so on men in my opinion.
2. I couldn't justify the expense and discomfort of having to get fillers a few times a year.
When I heard about PermaLip implants I was intrigued and did my due diligence, reading and watching everything I could find about the specifics of the procedure. From most of the photos I saw the results looked very natural and not like Donald Duck.
I've had other cosmetic work done in the past and I knew that if I opted for PermaLip I wanted to keep the existing natural proportions of my lips, which would mean going with the same size on the top and bottom.
I met with a few doctors about PermaLip and during my consultation with Dr. Katzen I knew on the spot that he was the doctor to choose. He was the only doctor that explained his technique of positioning the implants closer to the lip muscles so as not to risk appearing like a small worm on top of the soft tissue, a problem I'd read about some patients of other doctors having. My consultation was on a Monday and I booked the procedure for Friday of the same week. I was happy Dr. Katzen was able to fit me into the schedule so quickly since I'm the type that prefers to just bite the bullet and get a procedure done as soon as I've committed to it - no point in waiting months and thinking about it!
On the day of the procedure I arrived on time and Dr. Katzen started the procedure a few minutes later. He and his office team are really organized and coordinated which is great because patients aren't made to wait which is always a pet peeve of mine. Dr. Katzen briefly outlined what he'd be doing and showed me the sterile unopened implants. We'd both agreed that the 5mm (65mm length) on the top and bottom would be the best fit for my lips and create a natural enhanced look.
Literally the worst part of the process is the numbing, which I expected based on experience with prior in-office procedures. Dr. Katzen basically gave me a dental block in my lips and an injection near a nerve in the top of my lip almost brought a tear to my eye. Beyond that the rest was a piece of cake. I'd taken a klonopin to be calm during the procedure and a percocet to get ahead of any pain I might feel when the lidocaine ultimately wore off. I didn't feel anything except a bit of tugging/manipulation to my lips but it was totally tolerable, so much so that I was snapchatting part of the procedure when the alligator clamp tool was totally through my lip. The implants went in smoothly and fit perfectly, so luckily Dr. Katzen didn't need to trim the ends at all. Once the implants were in Dr. Katzen put a couple dissolvable sutures in each side and I was ready to go home. By the way, he uses a technique of only two incisions (one on each side) of the inside corners of the lips whenever possible. I'd seen some other doctors online make 4 incisions, one on each side of both the top and bottom lip. I'm no doctor but I feel like Dr. Katzen's method is probably more effective and makes recovery easier/faster.
My lips were very swollen for about 3 days, the second or third day was the worst. The pain was pretty uncomfortable the day of the procedure once the local anesthetic wore off but it was managed easily with minimal Percocet. I slept well the first night with my head elevated to reduce swelling and in the morning any pain I'd had was gone, I didn't need anymore paid medication. I also had almost zero bruising which is probably a combination of three things - my genetics, Dr. Katzen's expertise, and the cocktail of Arnica, Bromelain, and Quercetin I'd started taking the day prior to the procedure and continued with for a week after. Basically for a week I just looked like someone who'd had too much Juvederm but it wasn't so bad I couldn't go out in public. Admittedly I was a bit nervous by the amount of swelling the day after surgery and called Dr. Katzen on a Saturday, he had me send a photo and immediately assured me it was normal and would go down by using some ice. Sure enough he was right. I used one of those retro ice packs with the twist top (brand is called "Cool Queen" online) and it helped tremendously. I used one with a kiss print on it which I thought was fitting haha
I've now had the implants in for 10 days and I love the result! To me it looks natural and was the perfect amount of enhancement for my face proportions. My lips have some residual numbness and tingling when I open my mouth but it's getting less and less noticeable as the days go by. At my follow-up Dr. Katzen explained that it can take the brain a few weeks to get used to the general feeling of an implant and essentially "forget" that it's there which makes total sense.
I haven't seen many men have this procedure so I'm totally happy to answer any questions from men (or women) considering this procedure. Bottom line is if you want a natural looking enhancement without shelling out potentially thousands of dollars a year to keep up the look of your lips, PermaLip delivers great results when done by the right doctor and will basically pay for itself fairly quickly.
In the after photos my lips are still a bit swollen so I'll be posting a follow up photo as well.