Scientists have hit upon a new method for providing fuller lips, employing the use of grafts of muscle and connective tissue taken from the neck.

With aging, women experience flattening in the groove on the upper lip and a fall in the amount of pink tissue showing, and such changes lead various women to opt for a lip augmentation process.

Results of 25 patients were studied by Anurag Agarwal and colleagues, from The Aesthetic Surgery Center in Naples, Fla. All these patients had undergone lip augmentation with parts of their own sternocleidomastoid, which is a muscle that runs along-side the neck, and the overlying connective tissue.

Over a period of two years, the amount of pink tissue showing hiked by about 20-24% on both upper and lower lips. Also, the average projection of both the lips increased by 0.9 to 0.99 millimeters.

"Our patients have been thrilled with the natural feel and appearance, without the need for an artificial filler or implant", Dr. Agarwal said.