Trend Spotlight: Lip Flips

Aesthetic Medicine asks Dr Sana Sadiq about the trending tweakment

Lip flips are being hailed as the perfect alternative to lip filler on social media sites, with lots of young adults loving the more subtle effect, but how is a successful lip flip achieved, and what are the pros and cons?

Aesthetic Medicine: What is a ‘lip flip’? How is the procedure carried out?

Dr Sana Sadiq (SS): A lip flip is a filler-free technique for giving the upper lip a fuller appearance. It is perfect for people who have strong muscles that pull the upper lip inwards, thereby hiding it. It is performed by injecting four to six units of toxin into the top lip muscle, allowing it to relax. After three to 14 days when the toxin starts to take effect, the top lip gently lifts and ‘flips’ outwards. This creates the appearance of a fuller lip without adding volume with lip fillers.

AM: What are the advantages/disadvantages of a lip flip instead of filler?

SS: The lip flip helps prevent the upper lip from disappearing when you smile and helps smooth vertical lines above the lips. In some cases, it can even help disguise a gummy smile. You can also use a lip flip before lip filler treatments to give a more natural result without adding too much volume.

The disadvantages are that a lip flip doesn’t increase the overall volume and it doesn’t address the lower lip if you wanted to add volume there too. Toxin is also shorter-acting, so you would need to have more trips to the clinic for top-up treatments.

AM: Why do you think lip flips are trending?

SS: The results of the lip flip are quite subtle, and we are seeing more and more people requesting natural results. It has been made more popular by social media and appeals to many people who are worried about the safety and subtlety of filler treatments.

AM: What are the potential complications?

SS: As the lip flip requires injecting toxin as opposed to filler, if injected incorrectly or strict aftercare isn’t followed, the results can affect how you talk, smile, and even eat and drink. This is why it is important to choose and research your practitioner carefully.

AM: What kind of patient would you recommend for this tweakment?

SS: I would recommend the lip flip to anyone who feels their upper lip is particularly thin when smiling and would like a less invasive treatment and more natural results to achieve a fuller upper lip.

AM: How do you feel about aesthetic tweakments trending on social media?

SS: Personally, I am not a fan of ‘trending’ treatments on social media. There is no onus on content creators to be transparent about the treatments they have or haven’t had, or the level of editing and retouching on their photos and videos. I am also not a fan of the word ‘trend’, as it reduces these medical treatments to fashions. Trends come and go. I prefer to look after my patients for the foreseeable future, using the most scientific-based treatments, products, and techniques that are personalised to them.