ASPS: Lip augmentation procedures see record increase in 2015

There were a record number of patients undergoing lip augmentation procedures in 2015, according to a press release from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

“We live in the age of the selfie, and because we see images of ourselves almost constantly on a social media, we’re much more aware of how our lips look,” David H. Song, MD, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), stated in the release. “The good thing about lip procedures is that you have several options. You can change the shape of your lips as subtly as you want.”

David H. Song

Lip augmentation procedures are the second-fastest growing facial procedure in the United States, only behind dermabrasion procedures, according to the release.

ASPS data reports that the number of lip implant procedures grew by double digits in every region of the United States in 2015, with a gain in popularity in both women and men, for a total of 27,449 lip implants.

Botox (botulinumtoxinA, Allergan plc) and Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA, Galderma Laboratories) and other soft-tissue fillers were part of 9.2 million injection procedures in 2015, which was a more than 1,000 percent increase from 2000, according to the release.

“A patient may not be ready to commit to something as dramatic as a facelift or eyelid surgery, but there are a variety of ways you can change the shape of your lips,” Robert Houser, DO, a plastic surgeon in Westerville, Ohio, stated in the release.

“If a patient doesn’t like the injections, it’s fine, because within a few months they wear off and everything is back to normal,” Houser said in the release, regarding lip injections.

Reference: www.plasticsurgery.org