The non-surgical lip lift
Studies involving eye tracking show that we tend to fixate on the eyes followed by the mouth (eye-mouth gaze continuum) much more so than any other area of the face.It is no surprise then that lip procedures involving dermal fillers rank as one of the most popular non-surgical treatments with increasing interest, especially on social media. However, the lips are probably the most challenging non-surgical facial procedure to perform as they require an artistic acumen and great technical skills in order to produce subtle, beautiful and natural-looking results.
During assessment for lip treatment, it is very important to first consider the face as a whole. There are a number of reasons for this. As we age, the facial skeleton shrinks with inward rotation. The unsupported soft tissues weigh in on the lips which collapse due to loss of their own support. Treating the lips directly without restoring the surrounding framework will invariably lead to an unbalanced and unsatisfactory result. A more aesthetic result can be achieved by restoring the peripheral outline (facial reshaping) and areas immediately around the mouth to improve the overall appearance of the face from the front
The Nonsurgical Lip Lift (NLL) developed by Dr Steven Harris is an artistic approach to lip augmentation involving dermal fillers which safely and reliably leads to subtle and beautiful natural looking results. The NLL makes use of the natural anatomy of the lip, in particular the lip tubercles, to gently and subtly augment them while increasing vertical height from under the vermillion border (upper lip) or above (lower lip) rather than directly inside the border itself. Only fillers made of hyaluronic acid (HA) should be used as these are relatively safe compared to other fillers and fully reversible with hyaluronidase. Ideally, the HA filler of choice would be ‘soft’, cohesive and predictable causing minimal swelling.
The NLL involves 10 steps, but depending on the lips being treated, there may be a wide variation to the number and order of steps.
This is an extract from an article in the January 2019 issue of Aesthetic Medicine. To read the full article click here to subscribe to Aesthetic Medicine magazine.
Dr Harris will be discussing the non-surgical lip lift in the ‘Innovative Injection techniques’ programme in the AM Conference programme at Aesthetic Medicine Live on Saturday 23 March. To see the full conference programme and book your ticket please click here.
