With age lips tend to lose volume. Additionally, some people are born with thinner lips. Liquid injectable silicone and other fillers can be used to subtly enhance and restore lip volume, while providing a natural feeling.

The goal is to provide natural full lips, not abnormally large lips.

Injectable fillers are arguably the most popular procedure today. You may not need a face lift or any surgical procedure to have young-looking, smooth skin and full, shapely lips. In fact, the most natural-looking way to enhance lips and fill wrinkles and aging grooves, including those below your eyes, is with injectable facial fillers.

Fillers can be used alone or in combination with other facial rejuvenation procedures such as Botox, laser skin rejuvenation, chemical peels or facial surgery, helping to create a rejuvenated, natural-looking, smooth appearance.

Some women and men are looking for permanent results from their filler treatments, but most fillers last a few months to 2 years at most. Dr. Sterling offers patients lasting improvement with medical grade liquid silicone injections.

Liquid silicone is permanent and precise. It can be used for a variety of cosmetic treatments including:

Using a very small needle, Dr. Sterling injects tiny drops or “micro-droplets” of liquid silicone beneath the skin in the treatment areas. Silicone treatments take about 15 minutes depending on the extent of treatment. After your treatment, you can expect to go back to your daily routine immediately. There is no downtime. Discomfort is minimal. Even though silicone is injected through a very small needle and does not cause much discomfort, Dr. Sterling prefers to use a specially-formulated, topical local anesthetic cream for patient comfort.

Once injected, the skin then forms collagen to surround the silicone. This build up of collagen fills in sagging skin, plumping it up and ultimately producing a more youthful look. Patients may require multiple treatments to achieve the desired results, but improvements are permanent. The younger the patient, the fewer the number of treatments that are usually required.

An extremely ubiquitous agent, silicone is one of the most inert, or non-reactive, substances in the world. As a major ingredient in makeup, conditioners, skin care products, and used as a medical lubricant for needles and syringes, we have all been exposed to it. Medical-grade silicone is sterile and highly purified, requiring no skin testing prior to treatment.

Although cosmetic silicone injections using micro-droplet technique suggests a very good safety and efficacy record, all cosmetic procedures do carry some degree of risk and uncertainty. Although very rare (on the order of a fraction of 1%) possible side effects include transient bruising and swelling, overcorrection, rare discoloration (in thin skinned scars), firm texture, and idiosyncratic inflammatory reactions that produce redness and swelling. Fortunately, these reactions are extremely rare and can be minimized in their occurrence with appropriate substance and technique. In their occurrence, they can be managed with a variety of procedures including local cortisone injections, removal of tissue, and antibiotics. In some instances, time alone resolves the problem.

Unfortunately, the use of silicone in the skin has also experienced some controversy due to varying techniques and illegal silicone substances that have been abused by both physicians and non-physicians. Several forms of non-sterile, non-medical grade silicone oil can be purchased through industrial suppliers and illegally injected into the skin. Most often both poor substance quality and large volume injection technique led to greater risk of patient complications and unnatural aesthetic results.

For these reasons, it is essential for patients to seek a licensed, board certified physician with expertise in the use of silicone. They must use medical grade silicone (Silikon 1000) and use the micro-droplet technique. Although the FDA has not specifically approved liquid silicone for cosmetic use, licensed physicians are permitted to use it in cases where they believe it is medically appropriate and safe (referred to as “off-label” use). Off-label uses of medical products is highly common--for instance, Botox Cosmetic has been safely used in countless cases.

Dr. Sterling has special training in liquid silicone treatment and has published medical journal and book chapter articles on the safe and proper use of fillers.