What is a lip lift?
When you do lip lift procedure a small piece of skin in the shape of a wave is removed directly under the nose. The upper lip becomes shorter and the vermilion (the red part of the lip) becomes larger.
The normal length of a young woman's upper lip, measured across the midline, is between 12 and 15 mm. As we age, the skin of the upper lip becomes looser and therefore longer. This causes the upper teeth to become less visible both at rest and when smiling. Men and older women often have a longer upper lip and less visible upper front teeth.
Benefits
- This procedure makes you a lot more feminine and ensures that you look much younger.
- Relatively inexpensive procedure.
- When performed by an experienced surgeon, the procedure has an exceptionally high success rate and complications are rare.
Cons
- The treatment requires a surgical procedure that leaves a scar. If the procedure is performed correctly by an experienced surgeon, the scar will not be noticeable after four months and will be barely visible after 12 to 14 months.
- If you have poor dental health, the increased visibility of your upper front teeth will not improve your appearance. You will need dental treatment.
Procedure
A lip lift is a surgical procedure that, as a stand-alone procedure, can easily be performed under local anesthesia.
- The lip is rolled up to reveal a larger area of vermilion.
- The resulting curve increases lip projection.
- The upper teeth can be exposed about three to four mm.
What can a lip lift do for you?
A lip lift can give you a younger, more feminine and attractive appearance. Provided your teeth have remained beautiful, a lip lift will give you a 'fresher' look.
Who is a good candidate for a lip lift?
Any woman whose upper lip, measured across the midline, is longer than 15 mm.
Who is not a good candidate for a lip lift?
- Men, as the procedure would make them too feminine.
- Women with a very high smile line. This means that too much of the gums of the upper teeth are visible when smiling, this is called a gum smile.
- Women whose mouth corners have already started to droop. A lip lift will then cause a sad facial expression because the mouth corners are clearly drooping. In those cases, a lip lift combined with lipofilling of the middle of the face (facelift without scars) could be a good alternative.
How do you prepare for a lip lift?
There is no specific preparation for a lip lift.
How is a lip lift performed?
- A lip lift can be performed under local anesthesia or in combination with other procedures under general anesthesia.
- After making the design for the cutout, local anesthesia is injected.
- The piece of skin is cut away and the wound is closed in two layers.
- To ensure optimal healing of the wound under the nose, botulinum toxin is injected into the upper lip during the procedure. This ensures that the upper lip will not move for 3 months and the wound gets maximum rest. This results in a particularly beautiful healing of the wound and a scar that is almost invisible. If after 1 year there is still a small color difference between the scar and the surrounding skin, this can be colored with permanent make-up (dermatography).
What is the average treatment plan for a lip lift?
A lip lift can be performed as a stand-alone procedure under local anesthesia as an outpatient treatment.
Recovery
- On the day of the procedure and the day after the patient may experience some mild pain and discomfort that can be easily treated with the pain medication we provide.
- During the first week The upper lip may give the impression that it is much too short. However, you will see the lip return to its normal length as the swelling caused by the procedure subsides.
The scar under your nose may appear slightly red for two to four months, but after 4 to 6 months it will be barely visible.
What are the risks of a lip lift?
If performed by an experienced surgeon the only possible complication is a swollen scar. Due to the combined use of botulinum toxin we almost never see that anymore.
This can be treated with (repeated) corticoid injections or surgical excision of the scar followed by (repeated) corticoid injections. Surgical revision of the scar cannot take place until at least twelve months after the original procedure.
How long can I expect the results of the procedure to last?
Of course, the upper lip can become longer again due to the normal aging process, but this can take years or perhaps decades.