How can filler have permanently changed my lips?

[FreezerXbunny]

About 4 years ago during a period of poor mental health I made the decision to have lip filler.

I went to a medical professional who was/is supposed to be reputable. As my natural lips were small and I wanted bigger they said they would use a 'technique' whereby they add some injections to the underside of the top lip to give it some lift. I thought that was the standard procedure and said sure.

Some time later I realised what a prat I looked and contacted the practitioner to say I didn't like the side projection and wanted that to be fixed. He said he couldn't change that as the 'shape' is set at the first appointment and I got what I asked for apparently! (FYI I said I wanted bigger lips, not duck lips)

He said they'll go down on their own or I could pay £££ to have them dissolved. I opted to wait and let them go down by themselves as his attitude was poor and I didn't feel comfortable going back to him. He assured me that it was temporary and would most certainly go back to normal in time.

Only they didn't.

The volume decreased over a couple of years but the shape you see in the picture stayed exactly the same.

I accepted they weren't going to resolve on their own so I went to see a different (very professional and experienced) practitioner to have them dissolved and be done with it.

Once the process had finished and all of the filler had completely gone I was surprised to see that I still had the same shape to my top lip. How on earth is that possible? I asked the practitioner and she was baffled, suggesting it must be my natural lip shape as there was no filler left in my lips at all. She had done a very thorough job.

The dissolving agent dissolved some of my own hyaluronic acid and left my lips wrinkled which is to be expected to a degree if you've had filler in them for a long time, but i'm only 30 and it aged me.

I had to to have a very small amount of filler put back in (0.5ml) to smooth out some of the wrinkles.

So after all of that.. I still have the shape the first injector created the first time I had filler.

How could this have happened? Is scar tissue a possibility? What the hell did he do? 🙁

They are a huge improvement in the 1st pic and so many people have filler nowadays they dont look out of place. I would leave it for now if i were you as they look fine and you dont want to risk more issues imo.

Im totally on board with plastic surgery but think think the filler industry is misleading and very open to abuse

I wonder why he wouldn't dissolve it? I've messaged him about me. I had some filler in Jan 2020 ans despite them dissolving some of it, I get random hot swollen bits on my jowls where I think some filler remains. I really want some kind of scan to see exactly where thr filler is

I think your first pic looks fine, and natural OP.

I also think IRL no one would even notice the uptick shape. It’s captured and static in a photo, but in reality people see you moving and in 3D.

You might consider facial yoga, which would help build the muscles in the area, providing a good support structure and definition, promoting blood flow and possibly helping longer term.

There's now MRI evidence that fillers are still found in skin up to 8 years after the initial treatment. Lips especially can migrate to the top of the lip which it looks like may have happened. Dissolving also doesn't always work.

People can't have Angelina jolie lips of they have thin lips. There isn't the lip skin there to stretch so it goes in the border creating the shelf. It's awful what women are made to feel insecure about, resulting in this which looks worse?

I had 1.5ml put in by the first injector hence the size they were. It was on the reccomendation of the clinic and I thought it was a perfectly normal amount to have, only realising later that it was far too much.

That would have been the cause of the migration to the upper lip. Far too much in one go. Understandable you didn't know and trusted them.

Those lips are awful @CornishPorsche I can't believe that's the advertising photo!

His rationale was that my lips really weren't that bad and that because I'd had the filler, if it was all dissolved my lips would look much worse than how they used to look naturally.

He said he only dissolves in the most extreme cases and claimed he'd had issues with people taking legal action against him when he dissolved minor cases and they ended up worse off.

Tbh I would have been happy to go back to my natural lips. I'm not sure to what extent they would actually have looked awful without any filler, or if he didn't quite realise that my natural lips are super thin and that would have been fine with me!

His recommendation was to leave them as they are, or if I wanted a fuller top lip, to get a surgical lip lift.

As I mentioned before, it was quite annoying because I'd waited a year to see him and taken two days off work in order to match his availability (I can't work from home and didn't want to go in the next day with swollen, bruised lips). I didn't have to pay for a consultation when I booked so financially I didn't lose anything, but I think there's now consultation fee.

I've seen other reviews saying that he refused treatment but if you have more of a medical concern (i.e. hot swollen points) I'd imagine he'd be more likely to do something. My issue was purely cosmetic.

I'm not sure to what extent they would actually have looked awful without any filler, or if he didn't quite realise that my natural lips are super thin and that would have been fine with me!

Lips can look awful after dissolver. It can dissolve your own own HA. It often recovers I think, (but not always hence the dissolver survival groups) but that's why a partial refill is common.

But obviously you'd want a bad migration corrected by someone skilled.

My lips aged by 30 years after I had them dissolved. I'd done my research this time so knew what to expect but it was still a shock to see how deflated and wrinkly they were 😬

I have the same problem. I do fully remember filler being injected into the border and now I think it's so obvious I've had my lips done (I just wanted slightly natural!) there's so much focus on the top lip compared to my bottom. My top lip indeed feels like a shelf, the bottom is still quite puffy and natural to touch.
I've noticed it is wearing off on one side, so to keep them even I do have to top it up every other year or so. It seems once we delve into the filler world, we have to keep going 🥲

God why are they doing to women

@jhy

I'd get someone reputable, someone else, to look again for you. There's some definite migration there!

I'm convinced it has to be to do with the technique some of them use. I know migration is a common thing with lip filler but I've seen lots of people with filled lips who don't have a shelf or protruding so it doesn't always mean it's a given.

My bottom lip, like yours, is much more natural and squishy.

Are you happy with how they look from the front? As PP have said, that's the angle people will be viewing us from the most. I think we are the only ones analysing the side profile but it's hard not to when we know we're unhappy with something 🙈