Ready to be surprised? One of the cosmetic surgery areas that is growing in huge numbers is lip augmentation. Lips are often considered a seductive element of a woman's face, particularly exemplified by Angelina Jolie. Augmenting one's lips isn't particularly difficult, but the change never seems to last very long. A new procedure out of Florida involving neck muscles may change that.

Lip augmentation has actually been with us for a very long time. In modern times, the augmentation has typically been done by shooting material into the lips to plump them up. Fat from the patient's body has been one particularly popular choice. The problem is the augmentation may only last a month or two if not a shorter period.

Cosmetic surgeons in Florida have come up with a new approach they hope will provide more permanent results. They remove part of the sternocleidomastoid muscle in the neck along with some of its covering material and insert it into the lips. This gives the lips a fuller and, oddly, longer appearance. It effectively achieves results very similar to the current injection augmentation techniques, but with one huge difference. The neck muscle transplant approach is expected to last up to two years instead of a matter of months. That's a huge difference.

Now you need to hold off on rushing down to your local cosmetic surgeon. This is a brand new procedure and is not commonly known. In fact, the originating doctors have only tried it on 25 patients at this point in time. The results with these patients have been very positive, but it does not mean the procedure is going to be widespread in the next few months. Instead, it will have to be taught to other surgeons before it can spread across the country.

If you love lip augmentation, but hate the fact it doesn't last, good news appears to be on the way. Soon, one procedure will last for a couple of years and you'll be smiling all the way.