By Jeff Garberich, PA-C
This is one of the main concerns I get from clients who have never had the procedure done. Myths around this can unfortunately completely deter people from reaching their goal of having fuller lips. The truth is that the skin around the mouth and on the lips is thin and very sensitive, and everyone is different when it comes to just how sensitive it is.
We go out of our way to ensure the procedure is as pain-free as possible, which is why we offer two options for numbing the area:
- The first is a topical numbing cream, which is more than sufficient for most patients. Here is a testament to how effective our numbing cream is: one time injected my wife’s lips. If you know my wife, you know she hates needles and builds these things up to be waaaay worse than they need to be. I joke that she is the biggest wimp I’ve ever had in my chair (that’s just between us, don’t tell her), and she was surprised at how numb her lips were and how much of the procedure she didn’t feel. She admitted to a couple uncomfortable pricks from the needle, but nothing as bad as what she had imagined in her head (and trust me, I would never hear the end of it if that weren’t the case).
- There are some patients who are more sensitive and prefer to have something called a dental block, which is the second option for numbing. Much like what your dentist may do before a procedure, we inject a local anesthetic to numb part of the face before injecting the lips. The dental block lasts longer than the topical numbing cream and is certainly more powerful.
Another thing that really helps is your mental attitude. If you focus solely on how much something is going to hurt, it will generally hurt more. My wife the wimp told me, “When I got in the chair, my palms were all sweaty and I was nervous. I didn’t think the numbing cream would work, though I honestly didn’t really feel my lips. I decided to visualize what my lips would look like afterwards and before each injection, I closed my eyes slowly, breathed out. It calmed me down a lot and made me realize most of it was in my head.” While I’m not discrediting my wife and her low threshold for pain, I’m proud of her for realizing that she could control some of her experience in the chair.
When clients come in for a consultation, I make sure to answer all of their questions and provide them with as much information as they need to feel comfortable and make an informed decision. Give us a call today to see how we can help you get those full lips.
