Lip Advancement

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’m wondering if a vermillion or lip advancement can change the actual shape of the lips? I have a flat/undefined cupid’s bow that I’d like to augment along with the rest of the lips, but Juvederm only flattens thie cupid’s bow even more. Plus I am tired of spending money and to getting the results that I want. Every injector says that can make a better Cupid’s bow but it never happens. Thank you.

A: The main advantage of a vermilion or lip advancement is that it affects the whole lip, from corner to corner, and one can change the shape of the Cupid’s bow. Injectable fillers, like all volumizers, can only take the lip shape and push it out, it can not make a cupid’s bow that is ill-defined and flat and make it more defined or pronounced.

The decision you have to make is not whether a lip advancement will accomplish your upper lip reshaping goals…as it will. The question is whether the fine line scar that is the result of the lip advancement is a worthy trade-off. In most women with thin flat lips it is, but each patient has to make that decision for themselves.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana