Lip augmentation - How painful are Juvederm lip injections?

There are many techniques which can be used to lessen the discomfort associated with Juvederm injections in any part of the face. Ice, topical numbing creams, and distractors (such as vibrating devices or pinching) can often help to minimize the discomfort.

In my practice, I have started placing numbing medicine in the Juvederm. This, combined with topical medication, usually allows for very little discomfort during injection.

Needless to say, this was a very negative experience for you. I certainly hope that you choose a different practitioner and give this very rewarding cosmetic procedure a second chance. Rest assured, this is not a typical experience or else this procedure would not be so popular.

You may want to ask about comfort measures when calling to find a good injector. In our practice, we optimize comfort and minimize added expenses for the patient by using a triple compounded numbing cream, ice packs, combined with a gentle (ex: slow and patient) technique. Also, we all know that pressure goes a long ways in distracting pain receptors. There are many helpful and practical techniques. If your injector is not concerned with pain and comfort... find one that is.

L. Haney, RN

I know this may be hard for you to believe, but in our office, we have developed a combination of techniques which make dermal filler injections almost painless, even in the lips. Most of our patients grade the pain as a 1-2 out of 10, where 1 is they have minimal discomfort and 10 is unbearable. I have not had to do a dental block in over a year.

There is not enough space in this column to describe all the parts of the technique, but in short, we use a custom-made topical anesthetic, a custom-made needle. we mix anesthetic into the fillers and we inject very slowly. It takes a little more time and money to peform the injections, but my patients think it is worth it.

Michael J. Sinclair, MD

Juvederm placed in the lips can be painful if no local or topical is used. Some of my patients take it "cold" - no anesthetics. Most take at least a topical.

For the more sensitive patients, I will often place a topical on the skin for 30 minutes, and add a viscous lidocaine solution to be placed along the gum line inside the mouth for about 5-10 minutes prior to performing nerve blocks. This makes the lip completely anesthetic and very easy for the patient.

I am sure you were just very nervous, and that is why you fainted. My patients often comment on how easy the procedure went.