Wouldn’t you love to have that gorgeous pucker of youth? With full luscious lips, a pouty yet sexy cupid’s bow, and corners that turn up instead of down as if you are always frowning? Dr. Parsons offers lip enhancement with natural products such as Juvederm, Restylane and Belotero to enhance the natural contours and beauty of your own lips without appearing “done.” These products are composed of a substance called hyaluronic acid, which is a substance normally made by our skin to enhance moisture. Results can last from 6 to 12 months.
Astute cosmetic practitioners realize that all lips are not created equal and in fact they are probably more like snowflakes in that no two patients present with the exact same situation for correction. The youthful lip has many unique characteristics. These include volume that provides plumpness, a shorter length (from the bottom of the nose to the top of the lip) than the aging lip, which provides pout and allows for several millimeters of the upper to show. In addition, the aesthetic youthful lip displays well defined anatomic structures that include the “white roll” which is the light reflex at the vermilion border of Cupid’s Bow. A well developed Cupid’s Bow that generally has a “lazy M” shape in the upper lip. The lower lip vermilion border is more curvilinear. Other desirable features include a well defined philtrum and philtral columns. The upper lip is consistent with the Golden Ratio (also called Devine Proportion) ratio of 1:1.6, which means that the upper lip contains about 1/3 of the total lip volume while the lower lip contains about 2/3′s of the total lip volume.
As we age the lip undergoes many changes when compared to the youthful lip. A generalized loss of volume occurs that affects all associated tissues. The lip skin is affected from actinic damage and vertical lip rhytids or wrinkles, the lip muscle, fat and salivary glands also becomes atrophic. The supporting teeth and alveolar bone also undergo atrophic changes which lead to decreased lip position and support. The sum of all of these changes results in a longer lip in older individuals with loss of volume and definition. The longer lip also hides the upper incisor show.
The Ulthera lip lift (ULL) is designed to shorten the lip as well as “roll it out and up” to restore volume and extend vermilion and upper incisor show. This is accomplished by utilizing focused Ultrasound energy to the skin between the bottom of the nose and the top lip. This energy will cause this skin to contract as it causes tightening of collagen and stimulation of new collagen to form in the area. Results can be seen between 2 and 6 months after treatment. The amazing part is that this is a short outpatient procedure with no downtime.
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