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Neck muscle effective in lip augmentation--study
by Jaspreet Virk - March 16, 2010 - comments
Lip augmentation rates high on cosmetic wish list of people, who are not satisfied with the way their thin lips look on their face.
For years women have been getting their lips augmented by injecting or surgically implanting materials like collagen, fat, autologen, etc into their lips. But now lips can also be enhanced by using the implants of muscle and connective tissue from the neck, according to a new study.
The study titled ‘Lip Augmentation Using Sternocleidomastoid Muscle and Fascia Grafts’ published in the journal ‘Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery’ states that lip enhancement with sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) results in “enhancement of vermilion show and lip projection.”
SCM muscle, fascia grafts to treat thin, aging lips
Anurag Agarwal, MD, of The Aesthetic Surgery Center in Naples, and his colleagues studied (SCM) muscle and fascia grafts and their long term persistence to treat aging lips.
SCM muscle and fascia grafts, with “careful patient selection and surgical technique,” is valuable in treating aging lips.
For their study, the surgeons analyzed 25 patients who underwent the lip enhancement surgery involving use of implants of muscle and connective tissue from the neck.
They compared the results with another group of 25 patients who did not undergo this treatment.
Two years after the surgery, the researchers noticed 20 to 24 percent increase in mean upper and lower lip vermilion. Further, the lip projection increased by 0.90 to 0.99 millimeters.
Also, the patients who got their lips enhanced did not report any lip deformities or “any limitation in head movement.”
Thus, the researchers concluded that SCM muscle and fascia grafts, with “careful patient selection and surgical technique” is valuable in treating aging lips.
Common lip problems
Lip augmentation rates high on cosmetic wish list of people who are not satisfied with the way their thin lips look on their face.
Some of the common lip problems reported are thin lips, and no fullness or definition.
Thin lips are due to genes, and smoking further makes them unattractive. Also, as people get older, lip tissues breakdown. As a result lips become thinner.
Other commonly reported problems are that lower lip is thinner than upper lip and vice versa. Some also complain that right side of the lip is larger than the left side, etc.
Lip augmentation over the years
Lip enhancement is not new. In ancient times, women used to use plant dyes and colored clays for lip augmentation as full lips with an accentuated border is associated with beauty and youth.
Around 1900s, surgeons introduced paraffin injections to enhance lips, without much success. Later in 1960s, liquid silicone was introduced but it was abandoned by the 1990s due to fear of silicone’s effects on human health.
With the increasing popularity of cosmetic surgery in the 1990s, more synthetic or biological materials were introduced to treat thin and unattractive lips.
Though various substances have been put to use, many recommend that one should prefer natural substances, such as one’s own fat or collagen as it can easily be absorbed by the body, compared to synthetic substances.