There are lots of ways to make your lips look fuller—implants are especially popular. Surgeons have also experimented with various ways to make lips bigger by just cutting, such as the procedure called V-Y lip augmentation. A study published in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery looked at the effectiveness of this method.

What the researchers wanted to know: How well does V-Y lip augmentation, a particular cosmetic surgery, improve the appearance of the lips?

What they did: Surgeons took pictures and detailed measurements of eight patients before and an average of 11 months after surgery. In V-Y augmentation, large "V" shapes are cut in the inside of the lips, then partly closed up to make "Y" shapes. It's a little complicated geometrically, but it's supposed to make the lips look fuller. The study included 11 lips—seven upper and four lower.

What they found: After surgery, the red part of the upper lip averaged 75 percent taller at the tallest part of the lip and 55 percent taller in the middle, a significant difference. Both the upper and lower lip projected more after surgery. Patients' lips were swollen for three to six months after surgery, and surgeons had to reassure patients that their lip augmentation hadn't gone too far. Normal feeling in the lips came back six to nine months after surgery.

What this study means to you: This is one option for making lips look more full, and it should be more lasting than injections.

Caveats: The study didn't compare V-Y augmentation with other lip augmentation techniques. Surgery is a highly personalized skill, and each surgeon's results will differ. Also, the study was on a very small number of lips.

Find out more: The Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery published the article.

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery provides information about different types of plastic surgery, including lip augmentation.

Read the article: Jacono, A.A. and V.C. Quatela. "Quantitative Analysis of Lip Appearance After V-Y Lip Augmentation." Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery. May/June 2004, Vol. 6, pp. 172–177.