Sculpting the Perfect Lips, Is a Lip Lift Right for You?

A Lip Lift is a long-lasting solution to a small red lip and elongated upper white lip, which occurs with aging. It’s an in-office surgical procedure that I offer at W Cosmetic Surgery, done under local anesthesia, that elevates the position of the upper lip to create a more youthful and relaxed smile.

A lip lift addresses several concerns. Here are some ways to know if it might be right for you:

• Do your teeth show when you smile? If not, your lip may be hanging too low.
• Is there too much distance between your nose and your lips that has become more noticeable as you’ve gotten older?
• Do you have thin lips and want more fullness?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you may be a good candidate for a lip lift!

While some patients are actually born with a long space above the upper lip, others have the white lip simply stretch with time due to aging. The normal aging process involves the bones of the body (including the face) reducing in size and allowing the overlying tissues of the face to hang more. The soft tissue and fat of the face undergo atrophy, meaning that they get smaller/shrink in size, so the skin also falls as a result of gravity.

The aged upper lip has a thin or non-existent vermilion (the red lip) and a resting smile that does not show teeth. In these cases, I’m often asked how much distance from the nose to the lips is considered to be too long. The ideal length does vary a bit, but for females, this length usually ranges from 1.0-1.2 cm. The amount of distance longer than that measurement from the nose to the lips is considered to be the excess portion of skin. Most patients that opt for this procedure have a measurement above 1.6 cm.

For those with filler fatigue, a lip lift can create a lasting fullness. It’s also a great way to avoid the duck lips that can occur from filler injections (if that has happened to you somewhere else). Patients seeking a lip lift will often complain of their upper lip covering their teeth too much or wanting a more youthful and fuller red lip without the need for fillers several times per year.

Finally, the ideal, youthful lip has a cupids bow with beautiful curves, and is full and slightly pouting. One of the nice features of a lip lift is that the curves are not diminished as they were in the past with hard Gortex lip implants. That “perfect” shape can be created with this procedure and can be done on all patients over the age of 18.

Here’s an example.