POSTED UNDER Dermal Fillers REVIEWS
Totally frivolous but enjoyable!
ORIGINAL POST
Totally Frivolous but Enjoyable!
silly fiascoMarch 1, 2019
WORTH IT$600
I had gone to Dr. Duggal for a consult for my mommy makeover last year. The consult was $150 that could be applied to any service. I ended up going with a different surgeon for my MM, but I went back to Dr. Duggal for lip augmentation. They were running a special (join their email list to get notified of these) and with the special price plus my consult fee, I decided to go for it.
I scheduled a week in advance and read up on the procedure. According to popular wisdom, I avoided aspirin and ibuprofen the week before my appointment and scheduled it on a Friday after work so no one would see my puffy face.
The numbing cream went on first and reminded me of the dentist. (do not open your mouth and get any inside!) Then the doctor came in and talked with me about the look I wanted. She chose Juvederm for volume, as Restylane was more for defining the border between lip and skin, she said. I asked for a stress ball to squeeze and I highly recommend doing this. Her nurse has a buzzing device she will put on your face which is supposed to distract your brain from the anxiety between each stab. It's useful!
She started on the bottom lip and said "pinch" before each injection. The bottom lip didn't hurt much at all, but the top lip had me tearing up and groaning a bit. She also injected filler into my filtrate folds to give me more of a cupid's bow. That I can feel and I think I'm touching my nose more often now.
Afterwards, I felt little balls of the filler inside my lips. It feels like when you bite your lip and it swells up in one spot. She said it would go away in a few days and to rub my lips together like after you put on lipstick. She had used about a half a syringe on me and the office will "bank" the rest for touch ups or to do it again when it wears off in 6-9 months.
They gave me two small ice packs that were the size of ice cubes and let me sit in the chair for a bit until all the numbing wore off and I felt up to leaving. Then they gave me a bag for my ice and a vial of arnica pellets. I take 5 pellets 3x a day for bruising. I ended up with only one bruise on my upper lip that went away by day 6. (I covered it with lipstick for most of the week)
They had no other post instructions that I had read elsewhere (like elevate your head while sleeping, no kissing, no alcohol, etc.) besides the arnica and the ice.
I went to pay and the cost one one syringe was $600. The special they were offering that day was $100 off. Plus the $150 I had paid for my consult. It should have been $350, right? Well, I paid $400. I should probably call and ask about that...
Anyway, the feeling of swollen balls inside my lips has mostly gone away now, one week later. I can still feel one though and its a little annoying but not a deal breaker. You can't actually see it.
I scheduled a week in advance and read up on the procedure. According to popular wisdom, I avoided aspirin and ibuprofen the week before my appointment and scheduled it on a Friday after work so no one would see my puffy face.
The numbing cream went on first and reminded me of the dentist. (do not open your mouth and get any inside!) Then the doctor came in and talked with me about the look I wanted. She chose Juvederm for volume, as Restylane was more for defining the border between lip and skin, she said. I asked for a stress ball to squeeze and I highly recommend doing this. Her nurse has a buzzing device she will put on your face which is supposed to distract your brain from the anxiety between each stab. It's useful!
She started on the bottom lip and said "pinch" before each injection. The bottom lip didn't hurt much at all, but the top lip had me tearing up and groaning a bit. She also injected filler into my filtrate folds to give me more of a cupid's bow. That I can feel and I think I'm touching my nose more often now.
Afterwards, I felt little balls of the filler inside my lips. It feels like when you bite your lip and it swells up in one spot. She said it would go away in a few days and to rub my lips together like after you put on lipstick. She had used about a half a syringe on me and the office will "bank" the rest for touch ups or to do it again when it wears off in 6-9 months.
They gave me two small ice packs that were the size of ice cubes and let me sit in the chair for a bit until all the numbing wore off and I felt up to leaving. Then they gave me a bag for my ice and a vial of arnica pellets. I take 5 pellets 3x a day for bruising. I ended up with only one bruise on my upper lip that went away by day 6. (I covered it with lipstick for most of the week)
They had no other post instructions that I had read elsewhere (like elevate your head while sleeping, no kissing, no alcohol, etc.) besides the arnica and the ice.
I went to pay and the cost one one syringe was $600. The special they were offering that day was $100 off. Plus the $150 I had paid for my consult. It should have been $350, right? Well, I paid $400. I should probably call and ask about that...
Anyway, the feeling of swollen balls inside my lips has mostly gone away now, one week later. I can still feel one though and its a little annoying but not a deal breaker. You can't actually see it.
Replies (2)

March 4, 2019
Thank you for sharing your experience with everyone! I wanted to offer a few more tips to those considering doing a lip augmentation (filling their lips). Lips can be super fun and sexy, or simply corrective- to put them back how they used to be. I love filling lips- and the peri-oral region (around the lips). Two important things to note about the lips. 1) They have a lot of nerves, so ouchy wa-wa! We offer a dental block (which gives almost 100% numbness) and the topical Lidocaine cream (which gives about 80-90% numbness, depending on how long it is left on-ideally 20-30 minutes). Both are complimentary. 2) Lips are very vascular, (have lots of blood vessels), which means they have a high chance of bruising. To decrease the risk of bruising we recommend abstaining from anything that is a blood thinner, for example all anti-infamatories such as Ibuprofen, aspirin.... Also fish oils, flax seed oil, vit E (oil suppliments), Tumeric and curcumin and Alcohol and garlic (to a lesser extent). We have found a great Arnica /Senecchi supplement we offer complimentary with dermal fillers. For patients who are known significant bruisers, there is a surgical version patients start 24 hours prior. It really helps. Also, ice is best used prior to filling the lips. Ice is a vaso-constrictor (shrinks blood vessels) so we ice before to shrink the vessels to help prevent bruising. Besides bruising lips can swell. Some people tend to be more bruisers, some people more swellers. If you are a sweller, taking a non-drowsy anti-histamine, such as Zyrtec (which we also offer complimentary) for a few days after and using a warm compress after will help decrease swelling. I hope these tips are helpful. It's important to be well prepared for good healing. It's also imperative to discuss exactly what type of results you want. Bring photos of lips you like that are similar to your lip shape. When you're done healing we want you to be thrilled, with either very natural or a sexy kisser. Its all in the details.
I'm so glad that you decided to pay it forward by sharing your personal experience in such detail along with photos with the community, thank you!