Lip Lift- for Long Lip Line Could Not See Upper Teeth Well at All. - Baltimore, MD

My upper lip has always mostly covered my top teeth. I had veneers put on to lengthen the top teeth, but as time passed my upper lip drooped even lower. I was almost grimacing to smile and show teeth. There are VERY FEW doctors who seem to see a need for this procedure. I did some consults and got the stupidest answers from other plastic surgeons, like add fillers/implants or ignore that I had no upper smile! They were clueless. Dr. R Rodriguez of Baltimore had a fantastic lip lift video on Youtube that I saw and I said EUREKA, I found my doc! So worth the drive to Maryland. Doc was friendly and relaxed, the staff was very efficient and professional, the office is very relaxed and pop art chic (lavender velvet, crystal glass and open space). I love that it did not look nor smell alcoholy like a hospital. (I know that is not a real word ;) I was seen immediately and it was a super easy procedure. I was out in about 2 hours total & he played cool country music during surgery which was fun and relaxing. I have had a worse time going to the dentist! The first numbing injections hurt, but after that no pain at all for about 5 hours, when the numbing agent began to wear off. I am only on day 2 and I am already feeling well enough to blog. I will post photos to show actual results, but the process itself was amazingly easy. Fingers crossed so far :)

Recovery- Everyone recovers differently, but here are some tips from my experience with a “Lip Lift” procedure. I would recommend that you have on hand Qtips, Vaseline, tissues, soft ice packs, surgical masks and a bowl of water and a cool cloth. Also, soup, soda or other sweet drinks, kitchen scissors, mortar & pestle and oyster crackers. Straws ae pretty useless since you cannot use them.
My surgery was so easy and painless that I went to the outlet mall right after for a quick shopping trip! I wore my surgical mask in public. I didn’t realize that in another 3 hours the numbing meds would begin to wear off big time, and I needed to be laying down resting. Just being honest! Anyway, I wanted Vaseline on my lips immediately because they were very dry. The first pain I had was actually in my gums and teeth. Like having your braces wire tightened really hard.
The misnomer of the term “lip lift” is that yes, the end result is that the upper lip is lifted, BUT I guess I didn’t realize that the lip neither inside nor out are touched at all. It really looks more like nose surgery. I could best be described as looking like Miss Piggy right now. I have stiches under my nose, and inside my nose since that is where Dr. Rodrigues hides the stitches. There is crusty blood inside my nostrils, hence the wet Q-tips for removing it gently. To relieve the discomfort I used soft ice packs and a cold wet cloth on my face, it felt wonderful. I kept a large bowl of water near me, and floated a large ice pack in the bowl to keep it cool. I soaked then wrung out the washcloth and placed it on my face.
I have nausea trouble taking meds, and with this surgery you have to take antibiotics, prednisone steroids and pain meds multiple times daily. After my first bout of gross vomiting, I realized I needed a plan. The full pills dissolving make me ill, so I took all of my meds and crushed them with a mortar and pestle to powder. I then added a little water to the powder, drank it down and chased it with a sweet Dr Pepper.
I ate soup to keep up my strength and popped oyster crackers to help control any nausea. I then cut up a piece of pizza into ½ pieces with my kitchen scissors and ate them with a fork. Slept propped up with pillows, rested and watched old Sherlock Holmes episodes. The pain meds make you woozy so do not try to drive while taking them. Good luck!

Howdy all, well the liquid adhesive
Dr R put over the stitches fell off last night, yippee! At least I can see pink healing skin underneath now, and it doesn't look quite so gross. My nose is still very swollen, sortuv like Fiona from Shrek :) obviously It is too soon to tell how things went, but I can see my top teeth under my upper lip for the first time in EVER! I really think I should have had this done about 15 years ago. Still wearing a small mask over my nose at work, but only took off 1 day to have it done.
Very easy recovery so far.