Lip Lift

A lip lift, also called upper lip shortening, suits patients who are unhappy with the length of their upper lip.

When little of the vermilion shows, which is the red part we call the lip, the upper lip looks short and the distance between the lip and the nose looks long. Women in this situation often draw their lipstick above the lip line to make the lip stand out, or have heavy filler put into the lip.

The operation

The surgeon makes a cut where the upper lip area meets the nose, directly under the nose, and removes the length judged to be excess. After the excess skin is removed, the edges are brought together and stitched.

Closing the cut in layers matters. Stitches must be placed under the skin, to keep the shape of the lip and to give enough strength. The deep stitches go in first.

After the operation

Healing takes 5 to 7 days. Massage your upper lip with ice during that time. Swelling of the lip in the first 72 hours is normal. The stitches come out within 5 to 7 days and you return to daily life.

The operation takes 1 hour. You can go home afterwards and stand up the same day.

What it changes

• The distance between the upper lip and the nose becomes shorter
• The vermilion line of the upper lip is pulled higher
• The red line of the upper lip becomes longer
• The proportion between the upper and the lower lip changes

It is not lip filler

Lip plumping and a lip lift are very different, and they are confused with each other. In lip plumping the lip is thickened with filler materials. In a lip lift the area between the upper lip and the tip of the nose is reduced, and the hollow there becomes more marked. As that description shows, this method does not thicken the lip.

A lip lift suits patients who have filler regularly and like their lips to look bigger, people who want a permanent answer for bigger lips, and people who want the distance between the lip and the nose shortened.