Apr 12, 2007 10:27 pm US/Central
Permanent Treatment To Get Perfectly Plump Lips
by Mary Ann Childers
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Full lips are in style now and actress Angelina Jolie's are the ones many women would love to have. More and more women are looking for ways to make their lips look fuller. Injections are available, but they're temporary. Now there's a new treatment that's permanent.
Carolina Smarduch, 24, wishes her lips were just a little bigger.
"I think they are too small," she said. "I do not like the way it looks like."
As CBS 2 Medical Editor Mary Ann Childers reports, until now, most people endured repeated and expensive injections of fillers to get the look. But a new option might change that.
It's an implant called "Fulfill" – a tiny silicone tube encased in a sheet of Gortex and Teflon that is threaded through the lip, then filled will saline. Unlike previous implants, that little casing keeps it soft and flexible. And it's permanent.
"It doesn't get the strong fibrous capsule around it which makes it so rigid and palpable in the person's lips," said maxillofacial surgeon David Hanson, M.D., D.D.S.
The surgery takes half an hour. There's one tiny incision, and only one stitch. With local anesthesia, there's minimal discomfort. But there is a lot of swelling, which can last for a week or longer.
This device is FDA approved for use in nose reconstructions. Use in lips is "off label." Nearly 240 procedures have been done worldwide.
Hanson's first patient was his wife; Smarduch was his second patient. Two weeks later, Smarduch loved her new lips.
"They are very soft and I think natural and I have like 100 lipsticks already," she said.
So far the only real side effect appears to be swelling. In the future, you'll be able to make your lips bigger or smaller because the manufacturer is developing an adjustable implant.
Plumping up your pucker will deflate your wallet by about $3,000. But it's a one-time cost, compared to injections that must be repeated at several hundred dollars each.
David Hanson, M.D., D.D.S.Lincoln Park Institute for Oral & Cosmetic Surgery
2449 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
773-327-2400
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
