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New procedure claims to give fuller lips permanently

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

SAN MATEO, Calif. Nov. 19, 2007 (KGO) (KGO) -- Advances in plastic surgery are making it easier to look younger without having a facelift or major surgery.

So far, lip enhancement has been a temporary fix. But a new procedure that may plump your pucker permanently.

Lips come in all shapes and sizes: thin, full, pouty, smiley and voluptuous. And if you don't like the lips Mother Nature gave you, you can always improve on them.

A.H. wants to turn back the clock a bit.

"As I'm aging I can see my wrinkles more and my lipstick goes up the lines and my lips are disappearing," said lip augmentation patient A.H. Mathews.

While Kristina is an aspiring actress.

I'm here to get my lips done, I want a bigger upper lip, a fuller one to match my bottom one," said lip augmentation patient Kristina Will.

Until now the only way to get plumper lips was to inject a filler like collagen. But that typically lasts about six months. Well now there is a whole new way to enhance your lips using a saline-filled implant, and doctors say it's permanent.

"It's really a unique implant because it is an adjustable implant," said plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. James Newman.

The "Verafil" lip implant looks like a small deflated balloon.

San Mateo plastic surgeon Dr. James Newman is the first physician in the U.S. to test the new "Verafil" lip implants. After numbing and marking A.H.'s lips, he makes a slim pocket to insert the implant.

"The way the doctor will implant the lip procedure is similar to the breast procedure in that smaller incisions can be made because the implant is placed in a deflated state," said Dr. Newman.

After the device is carefully positioned, it's filled and molded by hand. The entire procedure takes less that an hour for both lips. A.H. is swollen but happy.

"I think they're going to be great, I'm excited," said Mathews.

Since Kristina is only getting the adjustable implant in her upper lip, her surgery is even quicker.

After placing the implant through the insertion tube - you can see the doctor filling it with saline. Much like a saline breast implants, the volume can be adjusted during the procedure.

"We're going to go ahead and increase the lip volume; you'll see everything sort of expanding out. As of today we have approximately 350 implants in patients and doing well," said Dr. Newman.

Helen Mawhinney is an accomplished environmental consultant and one of Dr. Newman's success stories.

"When I looked in the mirror I saw that my lip, my upper lip was thinner; they just weren't even," said lip implant patient Helen Mawhinney.

She had an upper lip implant more than six months ago and loves how normal and natural her lips look and feel now.

"I'm really happy I had it done," said Mawhinney.

And several weeks after her surgery, A.H. is pleased with her lips.

"I actually see lips and I don't have to draw the lip line all the way down here because my lips are their now," said Mathews.

She is still a bit numb but loves her permanent new look.

"I like it a lot. I feel younger and I feel definitely better about myself," said Mathews.

A pair of lip implants can cost around $2,500 dollars. So far there is only two years of research on them.

Doctors say the side-effects are similar to those for injectable fillers, but they expect lip implants to be permanent.

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