Lip fillers are injections that add volume to your lips. They’re a type of dermal filler. Lip fillers consist of synthetic hyaluronic acid (HA) — HA is a natural substance in your body.

Getting lip fillers is a personal decision. Pursuing your wants and desires for your body can be empowering.

To be considered for lip fillers, you should:

• Be in good physical health.
• Have realistic expectations.
• Not have an active oral infection, including canker sores or cold sores.

Many people who get lip fillers want to increase the size of their lips. You might want to enlarge the size of your lips for many reasons, including:

• Restoring a previous lip size. As you age, your lips may get smaller or thinner, your philtrum (the groove between your upper lip and septum) may get longer and flatter and the distance between the corners of your mouth (intercommissural distance) may increase.
• Correcting the shape of your lips. It’s common for your lips to be different sizes or shapes (asymmetrical).
• Smoothing wrinkles. When you smile or laugh, wrinkles sometimes develop on the sides of your mouth.
• Boosting confidence. Lip fillers can help improve your self-esteem and body image.

Lip fillers restore or add volume to your lips. They don’t stop the aging process, but they might help delay the need for a more invasive surgical lip augmentation, like lip implants or a lip lift. They can also help you achieve a desired look, which boosts your self-esteem.

Over time, you may lose volume in your lips, which may be a result of:

• Genetics.
• Smoking.
• Sun damage.

Lip filler procedures are common. In each year healthcare providers perform an estimated 3 million lip filler procedures.

Lip fillers typically last 6-18 months. However, it depends on your age and how fast your body breaks down calories into energy (metabolism). Younger people tend to burn calories faster, so lip fillers don’t last as long.