Hyaluronic acid lip fillers: volume, hydration and natural-looking results
Lips play a key role in facial expression. They convey emotions, bring harmony to the face and contribute to perceptions of youth and attractiveness. For this reason, hyaluronic acid lip fillers have become one of the most sought-after aesthetic medicine treatments in recent years.
However, there is a widespread misconception that automatically associates this treatment with excessively voluminous lips or artificial-looking results. The reality is completely different.
The success of a lip treatment should not be measured by the amount of product injected, but by achieving a balanced and natural-looking result that blends in with the rest of the face.
What is hyaluronic acid lip filler?
Lip augmentation or lip filler treatment involves the injection of hyaluronic acid, a biocompatible substance naturally present in the body with a high capacity to attract and retain water molecules.
In aesthetic medicine, hyaluronic acid helps to add volume, improve hydration and redefine certain structures of the lips in a temporary and controlled manner.
The versatility of hyaluronic acid allows for the treatment of various aesthetic concerns:
There are currently different types of hyaluronic acid, each with specific characteristics depending on the treatment area and the desired outcome. Choosing the right product is just as important as the injection technique itself.
Hyaluronic acid makes it possible to:
- Increase lip volume.
- Improve lip hydration.
- Correct minor asymmetries.
- Define the lip contour.
- Enhance the Cupid’s bow.
- Restore changes associated with ageing.
Natural-looking results over volume
For many years, the majority of lip treatments focused exclusively on increasing volume. The current approach has evolved towards more subtle and personalised results.
Modern aesthetic medicine seeks results that respect facial harmony and the individual characteristics of each patient. The aim is not merely to increase volume, but to achieve the right balance between the upper and lower lips, improve their definition naturally, and maintain harmony with the rest of the facial features.
Furthermore, a well-performed treatment must preserve the natural expression and mobility of the mouth, avoiding artificial or overdone results. In many cases, the best outcomes are achieved through subtle and gradual changes, allowing the treatment to be adapted in line with each patient's changing needs and the natural changes that occur over time.
"Aesthetic medicine should not be governed by trends, but by solid, timeless criteria"
Dr. Natalia Cárdenas
What can be achieved with a lip filler treatment?
One of the most common misconceptions is to think that all lip treatments aim to achieve exactly the same result.
Each patient has a different anatomy and requires a personalised assessment. The ideal treatment for one person may not be suitable for another.
Increasing volume in naturally thin lips
Some patients have naturally thin lips and wish for greater projection or definition while maintaining a natural-looking appearance.
In these cases, a controlled augmentation can be performed while respecting facial proportions.
Improving lip hydration
Hyaluronic acid does not just add volume. Its ability to attract water helps improve hydration and tissue quality, resulting in greater softness and plumpness.
Sometimes, even small amounts of the product can bring about a significant improvement without causing any obvious changes in volume.
Correcting asymmetries
It is common to find slight differences between the two sides of the mouth, or between the upper and lower lips.
Treatment with hyaluronic acid can help balance these asymmetries and improve facial harmony.
Defining the lip contour and Cupid’s bow
Over time, the natural contours of the lips may lose definition.
Precise injections can restore the lip profile and highlight specific anatomical features.
Improving the signs of ageing
The ageing process also progressively affects the area surrounding the lips. Over time, it is common to observe changes such as a gradual loss of volume, a drooping of the corners of the mouth that can give a tired or sad expression, the appearance of vertical wrinkles around the mouth (commonly known as ‘barcode lines’) and a loss of definition in the lip contour.
In these cases, the aim of the treatment is not usually to increase the size of the lips, but rather to restore the structures that have lost support over time and rejuvenate the overall appearance of the area, always striving for natural-looking results and maintaining the patient’s natural facial expression.
“We improve the appearance of the lips without treating the lips themselves”
Dr. Natalia Cárdenas
¿When will the final results be visible, and how long do the effects of hyaluronic acid treatment last?
The results are usually visible immediately, although the final outcome should be assessed once the initial swelling has subsided, generally after a few days.
The duration of the effects of hyaluronic acid can vary from patient to patient and depends on a number of factors, but as a general guide, the results usually last between 6 and 12 months.
Over time, the body gradually and naturally breaks down the hyaluronic acid, so maintenance sessions can be carried out whenever necessary.
How can natural-looking lips be achieved with hyaluronic acid?
The natural appearance of a lip filler treatment depends on many factors, not just the amount of hyaluronic acid administered.
To achieve a harmonious result, it is essential to carry out a comprehensive facial assessment to evaluate the proportion between the upper and lower lips, their relationship with other features such as the nose or chin, facial symmetry, and the unique expressive characteristics of each patient.
Excessive volume enhancement or a treatment that fails to take these factors into account can result in an unnatural appearance and disrupt the natural balance of the face.
Is hyaluronic acid reversible?
One of the advantages of hyaluronic acid treatment is that its effects can be reversed, allowing intervention in specific medical situations or the treatment of certain complications when necessary.
Conclusion
The lips convey youth, emotion and personality. Therefore, a lip treatment should not focus solely on increasing volume, but on enhancing the overall harmony of the face.
Because the difference between treated lips and well-treated lips is that the latter do not draw attention to themselves, but rather to how they blend into the face as a whole.
Polylactic acid, combating skin flaccidity
Polylactic acid is an active ingredient that belongs to the family of biostimulators.
Its function is none other than to stimulate the formation of collagen, activating all its precursors, such as fibroblasts or elastin, in a natural or physiological way.
Which patients are good candidates for this treatment?
Biostimulatory or collagen stimulating treatments are very beneficial for patients with flaccidity. Ageing can manifest itself in three ways: wrinkles, furrows and sagging.
In many cases, sagging is caused by a loss of collagen, so treatments such as polylactic acid can help to combat it effectively.
Is there a specific age for its indication?
Rather than a specific age, the indication for treatment will depend on the quality of the skin of the patient.
Indeed, it will have a positive effect on those patients who have sagging skin. In young patients it will be used to prevent it and in older patients, to treat it, as it is already present.
How is polylactic acid treatment applied?
Collagen stimulating treatments or biostimulators are mostly injected. There are several techniques, but the most common method is through a cannula, which allows for only two or three injection points. A series of vectors or treatment lines must be strategically outlined to achieve the best result.
What post-treatment care should be followed?
Treatment with polylactic acid is very comfortable as patients can return to their daily routine almost immediately. There may be a little swelling or slight erythema and, on rare occasions, a bruise, in which case the greatest precaution is to cover it from the sun.
Furthermore, it can be performed at any time of the year, including the summer months.
When do the effects of the treatment start to be visible?
The result is not immediate, it will start to be noticed after two weeks, but the definitive result is visible after 2 or 3 months.
How long do the effects of the treatment last?
It has a permanent effect, the stimulation of collagen that is achieved remains in the skin forever, but the natural ageing process of the patient will cause the flaccidity to reappear over time, as collagen loss is more accelerated in these patients.
Depending on each case, the treatment will have to be repeated with greater or lesser frequency, but it is usually performed once a year.
En HC Aesthetic, unidad de medicina estética de HC Marbella International Hospital, defendemos un uso responsable de las distintas técnicas estéticas, potenciando la belleza natural de cada persona.
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Lip fillers and Russian lips
Lip treatment is still in fashion, although, of all the facial structures, aesthetically the lips vary the most in volume and shape.
There are many lip types and even more preferences
In Marbella, a luxurious and flamboyant city, Russian lips have become popular in the field of general aesthetic medicine, and more specifically in the field of lip augmentation. This treatment, so fashionable in social media, was named due to the mouth’s similar appearance to that of the matryoshkas, traditional Russian dolls.
Lip augmentation is a treatment that involves the injection of hyaluronic acid, a biocompatible substance which is adds volume to the labial mucosa, raising them by temporarily trapping water molecules. Due to its elasticity, we are able to sculpt or model the shape of the lips in a certain way, enhancing the cupid’s bow or emphasising certain qualities which make the lips more attractive.
Use of this molecule not only achieves a volumising effect but can also improve hydration, correct any asymmetry or soften a “gummy” smile etc.
“Aesthetic medicine should not be governed by trends, but by a safe and unfailing approach.”
Dr. Natalia Cárdenas
Most concepts of lip beautification rely particularly on an increase in volume, full lips are understood to be more attractive, but the success of lip augmentation treatment is in providing just enough volume to draw the appropriate, desired attention.
Well-defined and full lips represent attractiveness and beauty. An excessive increase in volume will result in the patient looking like a caricature.
Lip augmentation treatment requires comprehensive planning. It is just as important to understand the patient’s concerns, as is it to know how to argue against treatment when not indicated.
Professional judgement is fundamental, but so is the correct choice of technique and hyaluronic acid product, which should always be of the highest quality.
The procedure is described as reversible as there is actually an antidote for hyaluronic acid, however, this should not be considered an antidote for an unwanted aesthetic result, its use should be reserved for prevention of medical complications when required. The antidote is a rescue tool, not part of treatment, as its application is also not risk-free or without side effects.
The aim of all lip treatments is not the same
In younger patients, some treatments seek to increase volume, but there are also lip treatments indicated for patients who are already showing signs of ageing around the mouth, such as bar code wrinkles, etc.. In these cases, volume is often not the objective, instead the aim is to restore the area and above all reverse the passage of time, delivering the most natural result possible. In these cases, I explain to my patients, that “we will improve the appearance of the lips, without treating the lips.”
Success lies in the selection of the appropriate type of hyaluronic acid and infiltration of the correct amount into the appropriate lip area.
Dr. Natalia Cárdenas
To achieve a harmonious result, a facial study is essential, considering not only the aesthetic appearance around the mouth, but also its proportion in relation to other elements of the face, without losing sight of functionality, as lips express emotion, sensuality and vitality.
The patient’s anatomy must be respected, using subtle changes to create a long-term, positive aesthetic effect.
At HC Aesthetics, HC Marbella International Hospital’s Aesthetic Medicine Unit, we promote responsible use of different aesthetic techniques, enhancing each person’s natural beauty.