Lip flip or lip flop?
By Dr Rachael Syvret
A “lip flip” is one of aesthetics most “googled” terms at the moment.
What is it? And is it for me?
A lip flip is a procedure carried out to relax the lips slightly so that they curl outwards a little. As a result, the lips appear bigger. A lip flip is carried out by injecting a small amount of botox, just at the lip border, into the superficial muscle fibres.
By injecting botox, it relaxes the muscle and allows the lip to “flip” outwards slightly. Lots of people are interested, as it would mean bigger lips without the need for filler.
So, what’s the catch?!
The muscle fibres that you are injecting the botox into, are the same muscle fibres that are involved in pursing or pouting the lips. It is therefore very important that the amount injected is only small, as too much can lead to the inability to purse the lips. This can have an impact on our speech, drinking from cups and through a straw, and even spitting out our toothpaste!
Dr Rachael tries a lip flip on herself!
Having looked at my lips for a long time and debated whether or not to get some filler, I decided maybe a lip flip would be the way to go for me. I decided I would start very cautiously with only two injection points to the upper lip and one injection to the bottom lip.
Did I see a difference?
Yes. But extremely subtle! So I got a bit more confident. A month or so later I decided I would try again. This time, I put four injection points at the top and three injection points to the bottom lip.
Did I see a difference this time? Yes; and definitely more than with the first time.
Will I be having it again?
Absolutely NOT! Although I can see a difference in the size of my lips, the inability to fully control my eating and drinking, and even being conscious of the way my lips are moving when I am talking, is just not worth the slight increase in lip volume for me.
So, in my opinion, if you want to increase the volume of your lips…stick to filler. For me, my “lip flip” was very much a “lip flop.”
