Lips Category

Lip Augmentation – WY or VY plasty

WY plasty and VY plasty are methods for surgical lip augmentation with permanent effect. These outpatient operations increase the volume and pink surface area, without the use of implants. Dr. Nikolay Serdev has modified and improved the procedure in a way that allows for maximum increase, even with thin lips.

Оperative trauma is reduced to minimal. The lips heal fast, within 3-5 days. Hyposensitivity could persist for no more than 2-3 months. This is the only inconvenience of the procedure.

About the procedure

During the WY or VY plasty, the surgeon performs various manipulations to create the new look of your lips. The cuts are made from the inside of the mouth, pushing the musculature outward. In this way, the visible pink surface of the lips increases. This method can not only augment, but also to reduce lip volume.

After the permanent lip augmentation procedure, you should cover your lips with ice packs multiple times for the first 48 hours. This will stop any small bleeding and reduce swelling. You must not apply ice after this period, because vessels will contract, tissue regeneration will reduce and thus swelling will augment. We advise against excessive talking, smiling or laughing (i.e. moving and stretching of the lips) for about a week. Swelling is common and usually persists for 7-10 days. During the postoperative period, patients take analgesics to reduce the pain when necessary. They should avoid sunlight and solid foods and use lip care. Possible numbness around the lips will resolve mostly within 4-6 weeks.

For patients who prefer a non-surgical approach, we can offer lip augmentation with implants.

Even though we have no complications, every procedure involves possibility of such. The patient must discuss this with the surgeon prior to undergoing the procedure and so avoid performing actions which may infect the lips.

Proportions of the Lips

Correct aesthetic proportions determine the beauty of the face and lips play a major part. In volume, the mouth should correspond to the volume of the eyes and eyebrows. Excess volume can have a harmful effect on beauty! The upper and lower lips should be equal in volume, juicy, with sexy borderline appearance. VY or WY plasty for surgical lip augmentation is one way of achieving permanently correct volume and proportions.

Most young patients seek lip augmentation as a strive to grace and way to better perceive themselves. For adults it is more important to create volume and block muscle pressure, in order to prevent or stop lip wrinkling, as well as dry and atrophy appearance.

Thin lips are often congenital. However, with age and atrophy of muscles, the lips lose their volume. They become dry and wrinkled, due to perioral muscle activity. In any case, it is important to express the lip contour and increase volume of the lips’ pink mucosa – the so called “kissing surface“.

Patients must be at least 18 years of age.

Results

Lip Augmentation – Fillers, Implants, Transplantation

Correct aesthetic proportions determine the beauty of the face and lips play a major part. Their combined volume should correspond to the volume of the eyes and eyebrows. The upper and lower lips should be equal in volume, with sexy borderline appearance. Lip augmentation with fillers, implants or transplantation are some of the ways of achieving correct volume and proportions.

Reasons for Lip Augmentation

Most young patients seek lip augmentation as a strive to grace and way to better perceive themselves. For adults it is more important to create volume, in order to prevent or stop lip wrinkling, as well as dry and atrophy appearance.

Patients must be at least 18 years of age.

Implants, fillers or surgical procedures?

Cosmetic surgery enjoys a variety of methods for lip augmentation: by fillers, by own tissue, implants or surgically – via WY or VY plasty for permanent augmentation.

When using implants, either temporary or lasting, we can choose between injections or surgical implantation. Injectable implants can have temporary or lasting effect, but we do not recommend the latter.

Patients must be informed that the use of liquid silicone injections is forbidden and pursued by law.

After about two years of using injectable implants, it becomes more expensive than a single permanent operation. In addition, injectables has often led to addiction and abuse in both patients and doctors, with terrible anti-aesthetic results. This, in turn, can ruin people’s image and social life.

Surgically placed implants

GORETEX Band

GORETEX Band is used for permanent lip augmentation and anti-wrinkling protection.

This is a brief outpatient surgery under local anesthetic. Placement of the soft-elastic Goretex band along the contour of the lips is intended to prevent lip wrinkling. This is a permitted implantation material, which is used also in vascular and cardiac valvular prostheses. The material has a lip-like consistency and can not be felt when touching or kissing.

This band may be removed at any time and can be placed at any time again using only point punctures that do not leave a scar. The effect of increasing the lip volume is about 2-3 mm - this is the thickness of the band. Additional effect is that of lip juiciness.

This method is very important in early stages of lip wrinkling and is recommended for women over 35. It is also preferred by young women who prefer unobtrusive, but permanent effect with an implant that can be removed at any time, without negatives. With this method the swelling of the lips is invisible and patients can return to work and social life almost immediately.

Silicone Implants for surgical placement

Have similar application as Goretex Band.

Results

Injectable Fillers

Permanent fillers (Lifelong)

Permanent, nonabsorbable injectable fillers should no longer be used, because of late reactions, displacement, and formation of granulations that require surgery.

Patients must know that the use of liquid silicone in the form of injections has been banned in most European countries from the end of XX century. Silicone for intraocular injection for short-term adhesion of retina have low purity and must not be used for permanent (lifelong) aesthetic purposes. All patients with silicone injections are subjected to repeated excisions of the lips. Silicone has one of the smallest molecules and once it has penetrated the tissues, it can never be removed entirely. It cannot be absorbed.

Temporary (up to 6 months)

Temporary injectable fillers are based primarily on hyaluronic acid. There are many products with different densities to fill lips or wrinkles. More permanent preparations are cross linked or double cross linked. The durability of the result, depending on the product, is around 6-12 months.

Fat Transplantation (Fat Graft)

Autologous fat, for the purpose of lip augmentation, is not an implant (foreign body) but a transplant (own tissue). This method does not alsways give the most aesthetic results - the organism's reaction is much more violent, large swelling and redness are present for days. Unfortunately, the result is neither stable, nor uniform. To live, fat cells must be vascularized. Only cells with good contact with the own tissues can receive blood supply. All other cells die and stay in fluid cysts. Thus, the effect decreases and is proven to retain alive maximum 30%-40% of the injected volume. Over-filling does not give aesthetic appearance and better survival. Fat transplantation could need repeated or adjusting procedures. Cysts should be removed.

Surgical Methods With Permanent Efect

WY and VY Plasty

WY and VY plasty is an outpatient operation under local anesthesia. It permanently increases the volume and the pink surface area of the lips, with a very good and stable result. Dr. Serdev’s modified method allows for maximum increase, even with very thin lips, and reduces trauma.

The lips heal fast - for 3-5 days. Hyposensitivity could persist for no more than 2-3 months. This is the only inconvenience of the procedure. This operation should be performed by a qualified cosmetic surgeon.

You can read detailed information on this method here.

Lip Margin Skin Excision

It gives poor results with visible scars and should be abandoned.