Lip Enhancement
How to Minimise Swelling and Bruising after Lip Enhancement
Lip Enhancement is the most popular facial aesthetics procedure that I carry out. I love carrying out lip enhancement as the results are visible immediately (unlike treatments such as anti-wrinkle injections, also known as Botox, which can take up to two weeks to fully kick in) and really can improve the overall attractiveness of the face.
Unfortunately, like every procedure there are risks and the most commonly occurring of these are post operative swelling and bruising that can last for up to 1 week.
Although there is nothing that can be done to completely eliminate swelling and bruising there are steps that can be taken to minimise this as much as possible. These are my top tips for doing just that
- Firstly, I would never carry out a lip enhancement if you have an important event coming up in the next two weeks. No one can guarantee that you will not swell or bruise so if you have a wedding/ big birthday coming up make sure you book in to have your treatment well in advance of your special day. It’s also worth noting that following lip enhancement you will not be able to wear makeup for 24 hours so you may not want to plan a night out for the evening following your procedure.
- Ice. Ice packs held on the lips before and after the procedure can help reduce swelling, bruising and tenderness.
- Avoid drinking caffeine, alcohol, green tea and eating anything salty on the day before and day of the procedure. These have all been shown to influence swelling and bruising.
- Apply arnica cream following the procedure. Arnica is a flowering herb prized for its anti-inflammatory properties. I apply arnica for all of my patients following lip enhancement.
- Eat fresh pineapple before and after the procedure. Pineapple contains bromelain that has been shown to reduce bruising.
