Am I a candidate for a lip lift? Have tried fillers before. (photos)

Question

I have always had a nonexistent upper lip. I got fillers earlier this year and I do like the outcome, however, I feel like my top lip just protrudes out as opposed to flipping up and showing more pink. But I do have tooth show already and my philtrum is about 11mm long. Any advice? I’d also love to NOT have surgery. So any alternative approaches would be great!

Gary Linkov, MD · Answer

There are surgical and non-surgical approaches to lip augmentation. Non-surgical approaches include botox (slight lift, reducing gum show) and filler (volume restoration). Surgically, you can have two separate incisions under the nose (italian), one incision under the nose (bull horn), one incision at the red/white upper lip junction (gull wing) or two separate incision at the corners, or a combination, depending on your desired look and anatomy. My preferred surgical technique is called the Elelyft, which is a version of the bullhorn approach.
Once the filler is metabolized or is dissolved I bet your philtral length will be longer than 11mm, just based on your photos. To get the degree of lip eversion that you want and not overly project the upper lip, surgery would be your only option in my opinion.
Gary Linkov, MD
Lip Specialist
Manhattan

Steve Laverson, MD, FACS · Answer

Reading between the lines of your question and viewing your excellent photos tells us you're extremely well educated in the important issues and appropriately circumspect about surgery.The totality of your presentation makes you an excellent candidate for skillfully planned and expertly performed lip lift. We have done many upper lip lifts on women with your exact features with uniformly good results.  Cost: $3500., including scar revision if necessary, about 10% incidence.

Gary M. Horndeski, MD · Answer

A lip lift does 4 things: shortens the distance between your nose and upper lip, increases the mucosa of the upper lip, increases the incisor show and pulls up the corners.  You would benefit from a lip lift.Best Wishes,Gary Horndeski, M.D.

Piotr Osuch, MD · Answer

I don't see your full face (nose & lip ratio, full face proportions), but if you've got philtrum  about 11mm long - it's not possible to do a lip lift. Your philtrum is simply too short for a lip lift to be performed safely. This surgery is typically done with excellent results on people with philtrum > 1,5-1,6 mm, and in such cases I usually tend to do a conservative lip lift. That's true that this surgery brings fuller & bigger lips & improves face proportions, but SAFETY FIRST, esp. that LL is an irreversible technique. Safety will not be guaranteed if you've got philtrum 11 mm long.
I's suggest fillers/ own fat transfer to lips or lip implant.

best regards, 
Piotr Osuch, MD, PhD

Barry L. Eppley, MD, DMD · Answer

There is no alternative to a surgical procedure to improve your upper lip. What you are describing is the need for a complete upper lip advancement. A lip lift only improves the central third of the upper lip and will make the sides look even thinner if just the central vermilion of the upper lip is increased by decreasing the nose to lip vertical distance.

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