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Both women and men with thin lips sometimes seek ways to make them larger and fuller. As we age our lips seem as though they "deflate" or even thin out. The upper lip, in particular, is more prone to these signs of ageing such as "dropping" or thinning.
Lip augmentation or enhancement is a procedure offered by many cosmetic practitioners. The materials and methods which are used to plump out the lips can include dermal fillers, fat transfer from other parts of the body, lip implants using natural or man-made products and surgery which can re-shape the lips.
In this section we will describe the use of strips of different types of implant material for people who choose to undergo a more permanent procedure to improve the shape and size of their lips. Although this procedure is considerably less common than the use of dermal fillers (which also include some more permanent options), there were just over 8,000 lip implant procedures performed in 2013 in the U.S., according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), which represents an increase of 2.3% on the 2012 figures. More recent data is not available.
There are no similar statistics available for the U.K. as yet, but we do know that lip implants are becoming increasingly popular in this country too.
If you are considering having a lip implant the following information will give you a basic understanding of the procedure. It can't answer all your questions, since a lot depends on the individual patient and the practitioner. Please ask a practitioner about anything you don't understand.