I want to have a lip lift, how many cm should be removed? My philtrum is 1.8 cm long (photo)

If you are 1.8 cm long then I would remove .6 cm or less. Also, the skin has to be resected laterally otherwise it will result in a bunny deformity. 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.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

This requires a formal in-person evaluation. Seek out a facial sculpting expert to discuss your customized next steps. Best, Dr. Emer

When deciding on how much to remove, I usually manually lift the lip with the patient holding the mirror and we decide together.

An exam is important because there are many other factors to take into account such as skin thickness, muscle function, skin laxity, amount of tooth show present with the lips parted at rest, etc. For example,
patients with thinner upper lips get more of a lift than those with thick upper lips. So even if you have the same philtral length as another person, it doesn't mean you would get the same amount of excision.

With that being said, most excisions range between 5-7mm (not cm).

I have a lot of videos and before/afters on Realself and Instagram. I've attached one video here.