I made the terrible mistake several years ago to allow myself to be persuaded by a very well known plastic surgeon to have gortex implants put in my lips. The ironic thing is, I wasn’t even there for that but he suggested it and I figured he knew what would look the most beautiful, that was what he did and if he thought I needed it, then I must. Unfortunately I was young and uninformed and I paid the price. I feel so strongly about this because still to this day many plastic surgeons are still advocating using implants for lips even with all the new findings and guinea pigs like myself who are living proof that lip implants are the worst thing you can do to your lips.

As I said, the plastic surgeon put in several strands of gortex and for a couple of years, I loved it. Then over time I noticed a gradual change in my lips, I started to develop some unevenness and as I aged and my skin started to thin around my lips the actual implants started to become visible. I went to another top plastic surgeon and he suggested injecting my lips with Restylane to correct the unevenness and to plump my lips up so that you couldn’t see the implant. He put on a topical cream that did absolutely nothing and started to inject my lips with the needle. This was extremely painful, it brought tears to my eyes but it seemed to fix the problem. But Restylane only last’s for a couple of months or so, so this started to become a twice a year ordeal. After a while of this, the doctor suggested using my own fat, he explained to me that fat was permanent. So I decided to go ahead with the fat injections which meant being put under general anesthesia and removing fat from my thighs and or hips and injecting it into my lips. The recovery was long and painful. My lips were extremely swollen and bruised. Again this worked for a while until I started to develop lumps and areas of hardness in my lips. The doctor thought that it was being caused from the implants but didn’t really have any suggestions other than to keep injecting me with more fat and fillers to try and camouflage the lumps. Before I knew it , my top lip was almost twice the size of my bottom lip and I had that awful duckish profile. At this point, I knew I couldn’t keep getting fillers put in , so I was faced with the reality of having to live with people looking at my lips instead of me.

I kept thinking in the back of my head, there has got to be someone who can help me so I googled lip reduction and Dr. Lam popped up. I read and viewed his web site completely and decided to make an appointment for a consultation. From the pictures of the before and afters..I started to feel some hope but I was still very leery. I went to the best plastic surgeons and let them play g-d with my face, I trusted them and I wasn’t going to go thru any more pain again unless I was 99.9% sure this time. Well I can ecstatically report that I allowed myself to trust one more time with Dr. Lam and I finally hit the jackpot! From the moment I walked into his office and met him, I knew I was in the right hands and that he could help me. He and his staff made me feel so comfortable and at ease. I am ten days post-op and I couldn’t be more thrilled! I can’t even put into words how easy , quick and effortless the entire procedure was. There was absolutely NO pain or discomfort and before I knew it , he was done. Not only that, my lips look incredible, they started to look good by the 4th day. I know Dr. Lam, talks a lot about not being too caught up in asymmetry but my lips are perfectly symmetric and they look perfectly natural now, no more quack, quack. It’s as if Dr.Lam sculpted my lips like a piece of art and I can’t thank him enough for what he has done for me. Also..as a side note he removed 3 pieces of the gortex and he let me see and even feel the lip implants. I couldn’t believe what they looked like and when I felt them, they felt as hard as a bone, it was awful!

So again, thank you so much Dr. Lam for giving me back something I never thought I could/would have again. You truly are an artist!

K.K.