Lip lift experience - not worth it

The space between my nose and upper lip has always bothered me. I have tried fillers, but they made my upper lip even heavier and droopier. I have also tried cosmetic tattooing (microblading) to make my lips appear larger and the space smaller, but that too wasn’t a permanent solution. I’m 27 y/o and I decided to get this procedure done while I can heal quickly, and before my lip has the chance to fall lower. I chose my doctor after research on real self. We are a very small community of people who have done this procedure, so every story counts!
I had a Skype discussion with Dr. R, as well as an in-person consultation the day of my procedure. My philtrum was 20mm and we decided to remove 5 mm. The doctor and his staff were lovely, and we talked at length before the actual surgery. The lip lift took 1 hour from the moment I was numbed, until the last stitch. The numbing shots were a bit like what you get at the dentist’s office, so I did not find them too bad. I felt nothing during the procedure and my eyes were covered, so I wasn’t looking at the blood or tools. Towards the end, my face felt sore. My post-op care consisted of instructions to rest and take acetamenophin, and to wait 2 days to take a shower. I was not to take my steri-strips off myself, and instead wait for them to fall off.
I was a little disappointed to hear that I would need to keep them on for 6 days, and then take the stitches off, and wear a fresh set of steri-strips for another 6 days, for a total of 12 days. I specifically called to make sure I wouldn’t have anything on my face for 5 days after my surgery because I have to go to an event, and I was assured that I would not, but that was misleading. Unfortunately, the event is in 2 days and I still don’t know how I will manage. The strips, along with the swelling, will make it impossible to show my face anywhere for the moment. I was also upset that I was not given prescription painkillers. In fact, the usual protocol is to give prescriptions before the day of the procedure. I was in immense pain on the way home. For 2 hours after the procedure, the pain was so bad I could barely stand it, and I actually even took painkillers of my own before leaving the office.
The first 24 hours were quite uncomfortable and I had to make sure to take tylenol every 3-4 hours or risk being in pain. The second 24 hours (day 2 post-op) were less painful, but I was very swollen. I did not expect this swelling, especially since I’ve been obsessively checking the reviews on real self and haven’t seen photos of swelling as bad as mine.
On days 3&4 the swelling was not better, but I stopped taking tylenol. The steri-strips fell off on their own, but I was instructed to put new ones on that were given from the office. I am putting neosporin on the wound. My lips are swollen as well. I cannot show my face in public because the swelling is embarrassing. Thankfully, I took time off of work this week. I worry about what I will look like when I have to go to work next week. The swelling is very obvious and it looks like a bad reaction to lip fillers. Also, my nose has become quite wide. I hope that is just from the swelling. I really do not like the way it looks :/ my nostrils are also enormous compared to before.
My recommendation is to have at least 1 week off after your procedure, at the very minimum. If you can get 2 weeks, even better.
I can’t really tell what the scar will look like yet. Just looking at my face now, I can tell that I should have taken off a bit more. I hope the end result is worth it! As of right now, I feel worried that I have done more damage to my face than anything else.

I got my sutures removed on day 6. The experience was uncomfortable. While it was necessary painful, I was nervous because I thought the (gentle) tugging would rip my incision open. Of course, there are also internal sutures, but the mind can be very powerful and cause a lot of anxiety. I was very glad for that to be over. I would say if I could change something about the experience, I would have preferred dissolvable sutures to be used.

My swelling is almost completely down, and only visible to me because I know that my face isn't usually this full. I actually quite like the look, ha!

My surgeon said that I am healing normally. In fact, it was a good thing I got the stitches out because my skin was healing quickly and would have healed around them. In the photo I've posted, I removed the steri-strips because they were soggy/itchy after I took a shower, but I will have to add new ones. I am to wear for 6 days post-suture removal, which kind of sucks. The dark redness you see is just dried blood. I've tried to remove it with some hydrogen peroxide on a q-tip but it won't budge and I don't want to be too aggressive. The rest of the incision is a pale pink, which is not too bad for 1 week. I am to apply scar cream (I bought at the office) 2 weeks post-op.

I will go back to the office one month post-op, and post photos then as well as at the 2-week post op mark.

I'll be seeing people for the first time finally so I will also write about whether they notice. Honestly, its a good thing we have before/after photos because sometimes it is easy to forget the scale of the change and you get used to your new face! If it stays this way, I'll be very happy. I can't afford my upper lip to drop, since the change is already subtle as is.

Hi all. At two weeks, the swelling seems to have passed but my upper lip is still fuller than usual. Nobody noticed a thing - not even my parents. Make up covers the incision just fine but I was advised to wait until the two week mark to apply (I didn’t wait - perhaps explains the small pimple that formed on the incision but went away on it’s own).
I start the scar treatment tomorrow so I can’t say much on that. The incision scar shows, period. Those who are saying that it’s barely there are exaggerating. If someone were to look at your face up close (ie at a hair salon while washing your hair or waxing your eyebrows) they would know. The average person may not notice.
So far, I like the change and I’m hoping that my lips stay exactly as they are! I’m wondering if my upper lip will drop at all. I guess I’ll see at the 1 month mark.