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  • Lip Implants and Lip Augmentation
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This is a product called Permalip that I am really excited about. This
is a permanent lip implant and I have been using this product for about
a year and a half now. What's nice about this is it really can give my
patients a permanent solution for thinning or aging lips. I commonly
perform injections to plump up people's lips. These injections are
great. In my experience, the results are terrific. The problem is
they're temporary so my patients have to return every six months, nine
months for repeat injections. The injections hurt. The injections,
obviously, cost money so that price adds up. So, when I was first
introduced to this product, I was obviously a little bit skeptical
because the whole idea of placing a permanent implant in the lips has
historically been a problem for plastic surgeons. We worry about the
migrations of the implants. Are the implants and going to move to a
place it doesn't belong? Or a visible implant that looks unnatural or
an implant that feels unnatural. So, those are the obvious concerns
when we talk about a lip implant. These implants are solid silicone
rubber so they're soft.

They have a little bit of squish to them, which will give a natural
feel. And they are also extremely flexible. What's nice about this is,
when you talk, when you smile, when you kiss, this implant will move
with your lip and avoid bunching up or any of the other problems that
we've had with other materials used for lip augmentation. The implants
are placed through a small incisions on the inside of the mouths and the
corners. The implants can be placed in the top lip, bottom lip or both.
And once they are in, they're in forever. The nice thing about these
implants, too, is that for whatever reason, if there is a problem with
the implant, if the person just, at some point, says, " You know what?
I like them and they were great, but I just want them out", they come
out very, very easily. So, they literally slip right out. And that's
the most important safety feature. With other materials that have been
used in the past such as Goretex, Alloderm, these are all materials that
plastic surgeons have used to try to augment the lips.

While they may work well, the problem is that if you want to get them
out, for whatever reason, they don't come out. The body has
incorporated it. There is scar tissue and sometimes, taking it out can
be very distorting and can cause a much bigger problem than if they were
left in. So, with these implants, I think the results are great. My
patients have been happy and if they need to be removed, they can be
removed without fear of causing any permanent distortion to the lips.
The other thing that is nice about these implants as well is you can see
that the shape, they are, they are tapered at the end. So, it really
gives a natural look and avoids that cigarette roll up here and that's
what some people have with augmented lips. You can see there's three
different sizes, the three millimeter, the four millimeter and the five
millimeter and that refers to the thickness of the implant. So this
will just give a smaller augmentation, this will obviously, the five
millimeter will give a larger augmentation. This allows us to really
customize to a person's lips and also their desires.

The other nice things about these implants is, in addition to coming in
three different thicknesses, they come in three different lengths. So
that I can specifically measure the length of your lip and pick the
implant that is going to fit your lip the best and provide a natural
look to your lip augmentation. So, this is the Permalip, permanent lip
implant, and it's been a great option for my patients that are looking
for a permanent solution for lip augmentation.

Lip Implants and Lip Augmentation

Doctor Matthew Schulman discusses Lip Implants and Lip Augmentation.