Lips that look like your lips, only better
Lip filler is hyaluronic acid gel injected into the lip to add volume, shape, or definition. A lip flip is a few units of Botox above the upper lip so it rolls out and shows more when you smile. We offer both, and our nurse practitioner will start by helping you decide which one suits your goals.
$100
lip flip, to start
At a glance
Lip filler & lip flip- Appointment
- Lip flip 10 minutes, filler 30 to 45 minutes
- Downtime
- Filler: swelling and bruising for about a week. Lip flip: none
- First results
- Filler immediately, lip flip at about a week
- Full results
- Both at two weeks
- Sessions
- One visit, with a two-week check for filler
- Cost
- From $100. About $25 per payment across 4
What to expect
What the appointment is like
A lip flip takes about ten minutes with no numbing, a few small injections along the upper lip. Filler takes 30 to 45 minutes, most of it numbing time: topical anesthetic sits for 15 to 20 minutes and every product has lidocaine mixed in. You’ll feel sharp pinches at the border and pressure in the body of the lip, and your lips swell within minutes.
Consult
We look at your lips at rest and when you smile to tell muscle from volume, and help you choose the treatment that fits, which is sometimes neither.
Numbing
For filler, topical anesthetic for 15 to 20 minutes and ice. For a lip flip, none needed.
Injection
Filler placed in small amounts with a needle or cannula, one syringe or less. A lip flip is four to six units across the upper lip.
Before you leave
Ice, written aftercare, and a two-week follow-up for filler. That’s when we’ll decide whether to add more.
Results
A predictable timeline
Filler shows the same day and settles by two weeks; lips move constantly and metabolize filler faster than any other site, so plan on 6 to 12 months. A lip flip shows nothing on the day. It takes about a week for lips to look fuller, and lasts two to five months.
Day 0
Filler swells fast
Filler swelling starts within minutes. A lip flip shows nothing yet.
Days 1 to 2
Peak swelling
Lips look bigger and lumpier than the result, and any bruises show. This is all normal.
Week 2
Judge the result
Filler result is settled and the lip flip is at full effect. We see you for your filler follow-up.
Months 2 to 12
Gradual fade
Lip flip fades at 2 to 5 months; filler softens at 6 to 12. Repeat either when you’re ready.
What it costs
Clear pricing, planned by the visit
Filler cost depends on the product, whether you need a full or half syringe, needle versus cannula, and whether the two-week touch-up is included. A lip flip is priced as its own small visit, and if you’re already having Botox, it’s a few additional units. There’s no series to buy.
- Lip flip versus filler
- Full or half syringe
- Which product
- Whether the two-week touch-up is included
Two ways to start
Lip flip & lip filler
$100
lip flip, to start
- Lip flip
- $100
- Lip filler
- $650 / syringe
- Consultation
- $50
- With Afterpay / Klarna
- ~$25 × 4 payments
Many first-time patients start with a $100 lip flip before deciding on filler. We cap a first visit at one syringe.
Book your Lip filler & lip flip appointmentSimilar purpose, different options
Lip filler or something else?
Three treatments often come up when people ask about lips, and each does something different.
| Lip flip | Lip filler | Lip line filler | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it changes | How much upper lip shows in a smile | Volume, shape and border | Vertical lines above the lip |
| Product | Botox, Dysport, Xeomin or Jeuveau, off-label | Restylane Kysse, Silk or RHA 3, FDA-approved for lips | Silk, Kysse or RHA Redensity, approved for perioral lines |
| Appointment | 10 minutes | 30 to 45 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Downtime | None | About a week of swelling | A few days |
| Lasts | 2 to 5 months | 6 to 12 months | Up to a year, per the makers |
| Reversible | No, it fades | Yes, with hyaluronidase | Yes, with hyaluronidase |
What it changes
- Lip flip
- How much upper lip shows in a smile
- Lip filler
- Volume, shape and border
- Lip line filler
- Vertical lines above the lip
Product
- Lip flip
- Botox, Dysport, Xeomin or Jeuveau, off-label
- Lip filler
- Restylane Kysse, Silk or RHA 3, FDA-approved for lips
- Lip line filler
- Silk, Kysse or RHA Redensity, approved for perioral lines
Appointment
- Lip flip
- 10 minutes
- Lip filler
- 30 to 45 minutes
- Lip line filler
- 30 minutes
Downtime
- Lip flip
- None
- Lip filler
- About a week of swelling
- Lip line filler
- A few days
Lasts
- Lip flip
- 2 to 5 months
- Lip filler
- 6 to 12 months
- Lip line filler
- Up to a year, per the makers
Reversible
- Lip flip
- No, it fades
- Lip filler
- Yes, with hyaluronidase
- Lip line filler
- Yes, with hyaluronidase
If your goal is a fuller-looking smile with nothing added, the flip is a good place to start. If your lips are thin at rest, our dermal fillers page covers the products in more detail. If the lines above the lip are what’s bothering you most, a few units of toxin plus a line product works better than either alone. And if your whole lower face has lost volume, not just the lips, Sculptra is worth talking about, though it’s never injected into the lips themselves.
Is it right for me?
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
Filler is a good fit for adults over 21 with thin, uneven, or deflated lips who’d like a visible change and are comfortable with a week of swelling. A lip flip suits anyone whose lip looks fine at rest but thin in a smile, a low-commitment way to try a fuller-looking upper lip before filler.
A good fit for
- Thin, uneven, or deflated lips (filler)
- A lip that looks fine at rest but thin in a smile (lip flip)
- Anyone wanting to try fullness before committing to filler
- Adults over 21 comfortable with about a week of swelling
Not recommended
- During pregnancy or breastfeeding, or with a bleeding disorder
- Singers, wind and brass players (lip flip weakens lip control)
- An active cold sore. We’ll reschedule you
- A lidocaine allergy or history of severe allergies
The risk that matters most in lips is vascular occlusion. It’s rare, but we keep hyaluronidase on hand and only ever use dissolvable HA gel in the lips.
In detail
What it treats
If your lips are thin when your face is still, that’s about volume, and for volume we’d suggest filler. We use products approved by the FDA for lip augmentation: Restylane Kysse, Restylane Silk and RHA 3, all for adults over 21 (RHA 3 says 22). Restylane Silk was the first filler approved specifically for lips, in 2014, and is also approved for the fine lines around the mouth, per the FDA summary.
If there’s plenty of pink at rest but it curls under when you smile, the muscle is the reason. A lip flip relaxes the top edge of the muscle that circles the mouth so the lip rolls out slightly. It doesn’t add volume. Every toxin is off-label for the lip, since the approved cosmetic uses are frown lines, forehead lines, crow’s feet and, for Botox only, neck bands.
If one side is smaller than the other, or your border has softened with age, filler can help, placed deliberately unevenly to improve balance. Vertical lines above the lip call for a different approach, and Silk, Kysse and RHA Redensity are the products labeled for them.
We don’t offer lip filler under 21, Sculptra or Radiesse in the lips (their labels say not to), or injections through an active cold sore. The amount of filler used depends on your anatomy and goals. Your provider will recommend the appropriate amount during your appointment.
How it works
Filler is crosslinked hyaluronic acid, a sugar your body already makes, that binds water and holds space in the lip. The volume is visible the same day beneath the initial swelling, and your body breaks the gel down over months. If you don’t like it, an enzyme called hyaluronidase dissolves it, which is why we only use hyaluronic acid in lips.
A lip flip works differently. Four to six units of toxin placed just above the vermilion border partially relax the upper orbicularis oris, per a 2025 systematic review in Archives of Dermatological Research. A prospective study of 17 women given 4 units measured a modest but significant increase in upper lip height at 15 days with no change in lip volume, per Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In other words, more of the upper lip shows, but the lip doesn’t get bigger.
Afterwards
Downtime and aftercare
A lip flip has no downtime. You might see tiny bumps for 20 minutes, and sometimes a pinpoint bruise.
Filler has about a week of downtime. On day 0, the swelling starts within minutes and peaks over the first 24 to 48 hours. Your lips can look uneven, lumpy and much larger than planned, which is expected at this stage. On days 2 to 4, the swelling drops fast and any bruising shows. On days 5 to 14, residual firmness and small bumps soften. In the Restylane Silk study, lip swelling lasted a mean of 7.3 days and bruising a mean of 8.4 days, per the FDA summary linked above. Judge your result at two weeks, once the swelling has resolved.
For the first day, use ice in short intervals, sleep with your head raised, and skip lipstick or makeup on the lips, as well as kissing, straws, hot drinks and hard exercise. For two weeks, avoid dental work, facials or massage over the lips. Don’t press or squeeze any bumps. Once the needle sites have closed, use an SPF balm.
Before either treatment, for three to seven days, it helps to skip aspirin, ibuprofen, fish oil, vitamin E and alcohol if your doctor agrees, to cut down on bruising. Please never stop a prescribed blood thinner. If you get cold sores, let us know, because lip injection can reactivate them and an antiviral beforehand is often recommended. If one is active, we’ll reschedule you.
Why here
Why Arlington Heights
Lip filler swells for about a week, so plan it at least two weeks before an event or photos. A lip flip has no downtime. The office is a short drive from Buffalo Grove and Palatine.
Every lip injection here happens in a treatment room in Suite C, the single-story brown brick building on Arlington Heights Road about 200 yards south of Dundee Road, with our nurse practitioner performing every injection. You can park in the free lot outside, with no meters, and drive yourself home with an ice pack. You’ll find directions and the map on the page for our Arlington Heights office.
Questions
Common questions, answered
Typically 6 to 12 months, depending on the product and how much your lips move. Restylane Kysse is labeled up to a year, and RHA 3 held volume through 52 weeks in its trial. Lips metabolize filler faster than any other site, so more lip movement usually means a shorter result. Individual results vary.
If your lips look fine at rest but thin when you smile, a lip flip is likely the better fit. If they’re thin at rest, filler is the better choice. A lip flip adds no volume, costs less, and fades in a few months, which makes it a low-commitment way to find out whether you want filler. Many people end up doing both.
About a week. It peaks in the first 24 to 48 hours, drops fast by day 3 or 4, and firmness or small bumps soften over two weeks. In the Restylane Silk trial, swelling lasted a mean of 7.3 days and bruising 8.4 days. It’s best to judge the result at two weeks.
Some, yes. The lips are sensitive, so we take time to numb with topical anesthetic for 15 to 20 minutes, and every product we use contains lidocaine. You can expect sharp pinches at the border and pressure with a dull ache inside the lip. A lip flip is a few brief stings with no numbing.
Typically four to six units across the upper lip, per the systematic review of lip flip studies. The technique relies on a small, precisely placed dose. With too much, or placement too close to the mouth, you can have trouble with straws, whistling or speech for a few weeks until it wears off.
Yes. Hyaluronic acid filler dissolves with hyaluronidase, which is why it’s the only kind we put in lips. The enzyme is itself off-label and carries a small allergy risk, higher in people who have had anaphylaxis to bee or wasp stings, so dissolving isn’t something we do casually. A lip flip can’t be reversed and fades on its own.
The amount of filler used depends on your anatomy and goals. Your provider will recommend the appropriate amount during your appointment. Most people who want a subtle change are happier with a half or full syringe and a look at two weeks than with two syringes on day one. You can always add more later, while taking away costs more.
For three to seven days, it’s best to avoid aspirin, ibuprofen and other NSAIDs, fish oil, vitamin E, ginkgo and alcohol, if your doctor agrees, to reduce bruising. Please never stop a prescribed blood thinner. Avoid dental work within two weeks either side. Arrive with bare lips, and if you have a cold sore, let us know and we’ll reschedule.
Lip filler is hyaluronic acid, so it can be dissolved with hyaluronidase if you don’t like it, and it also breaks down on its own. That’s one reason we add filler gradually. Dissatisfaction usually comes from too much filler too quickly rather than from the product itself.
Keep exploring
Related treatments
Related priorities
Dermal fillers
From $650 / syringeHA gels and Radiesse to restore volume and shape in the lips, cheeks, jawline, chin, and hands.
Learn more
Botox
$14 / unitBotox, Dysport, Xeomin, Jeuveau, and Letybo to soften lines made by movement, from $14 a unit.
Learn more
Sculptra
From $900 / vialA poly-L-lactic acid biostimulator that rebuilds your own collagen over months for diffuse volume loss.
Learn more
Start with a consult
Tell us what you’d like to work on. We’ll assess your skin and goals, walk you through your Lip filler & lip flip options, and give you a clear plan and price before anything begins.
Afterpay and Klarna available at checkout for eligible treatments.