Would it be worth it for me to get a lip lift? I'm a 26-year-old female. (photo)

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. The ideal candidate for the Elelyft, or upper lip lift, is someone with a philtral length of 13mm or longer, no upper dental show, and/or a thin upper lip. The nasal base to mouth width ratio needs to be taken into consideration to avoid leaving the lip corners down.

In your situation, a lip lift is definitely an option. The philtrum should not be overresected because you already have some upper dental show. As for the scarring, there are methods to lessen the risk of poor scarring during and after surgery. A skin only lip lift will not distort the muscle.

Gary Linkov, MD
Lip Specialist / RealSelf Lip Lift Medical Reviewer
Manhattan

Thank you for sharing your question and photograph. It appears that you would be a good candidate for a lip lift procedure as your philtral length is long. A conservative approach should avoid any unnecessary gum show when smiling, or any distortion when talking or eating. Hope this helps.

If you have an 18mm upper lip length, unless you are very very tall, a lip lift is for you. I likely do more of those than any surgeon anywhere and have for 20 years. It's done right in the office with no stitches to remove. The results appear immediately and are very beautiful.

Before jumping to surgery, you should discuss the possibility of simply using a filler, such as Belotero Balance, injected along the vermilion (border of the red and white lips) which will not only help to better define the border of the upper lip, but, by flipping the upper lip a bit, will appear to shorten the distance between the base of the nose and the base of the philtral columns. It's simple and will take an experienced injector no more than about thirty seconds to perform. Best of luck.

The distance between your nose and upper lip 1.8 cm, which is long. I recommend a lip lift. 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. The muscle should not be altered during this procedure.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

You seem to be a good candidate for a bullhorn lip lift to lift central part of the lips and shorten philtrum to get more teeth show. But with such lip shape, I'd rather combine bullhorn and corner lip lift for the optimal result. There's some risk that if you lift central part only, the corners will go down, which will not look good. Re: scarring - lip lift always leaves a scar. This is located just below the nose, in the natural crease, fades with time and becomes less visible. But scar is scar. If you're afraid of a scar, consider other scarless methods such as lip fillers/ implants.
Best regardsPiotr Osuch, MD, PhD

You would be a good candidate for a deep plane lip lift. The classic lip lift techniques may result in sub-optimal scarring and muscle function. With a deep plane release, there is minimal scarring and muscle function is maintained.

I think you are an excellent candidate for a lip lift. The ideal measurement for the cutaneous lip between the nose and vermillion is 14-15mm. Plus, your lip does look a little long, especially for your age.

Thank you for your question and photo and best of luck to you.