Lip Lift in Florida - Love It!

I had been looking around at lip lifts for about a year. Right after my 63rd birthday, I had enough of looking old with my too-long philtrum. It bothered me that I could not see my top teeth anymore. I Googled “lift lip Florida” and found out about Dr. Jean-Paul Azzi in Palm City, Florida, near Stuart (he also practices in Jupiter). I looked at a few pictures of lip lifts on his website and was impressed, and sent an email to him with pictures requesting information. He called me the next day and agreed that I was an excellent candidate for this procedure. We chatted and he was very pleasant, informative and understanding (I was worried he wouldn’t take off enough mm, but he wanted to almost take off too much!, I worried). Lip lifts seem to be a specialty of his and the price of the procedure was high. He ensured it would be worth it. I liked that he wanted to take quite a lot off--he was talking 11 mm! Other surgeons were much more conservative, which is a waste of money in my opinion. On 2/15/18 I made the appointment to get it done. I did this procedure when I wasn’t working and it was a perfect time to do it.
I was scheduled for the procedure 2/23/18. After I talked to him on 2/15, Dr. Azzi wanted me to stop drinking, and no taking aspirin, Excedrin, my hormones, or vitamin pills—except for vitamin C, for a week. He had me take 1000 mg a day of C and also Arnica Montana to prevent bruising. I ordered it online and followed directions—I took 4 pills which dissolved under my tongue, 4 times a day.
On 2/23, I drove three hours to get to Palm City to get the procedure done. I did not have to wait long before going in. Dr. Azzi is a super nice guy and very confident about his skills. This made me feel comfortable and he explained what he was going to do. We agreed how much he was going to take out (8 mm) and I expressed some worries and he calmed me down. When he started the procedure, he numbed me up so much I didn’t feel anything. No pain! He was completely focused. I was there about an hour and it was done. My lip/nose area looked like a mess (which is why I was glad I wasn't working). He makes teeny tiny sutures—which is a good thing! but also they show a lot. I was able to drive the three-hour drive home and was there in time for dinner. I had some pain that night and took Tylenol. The next day I was fine.
My nose, lips and under my nose were swollen for days because Dr. Azzi put 15 cc of numbing medicine in there, and it took some time for that to go down. I had very little bruising, perhaps because of the Arnica Montana, which I never heard of before. I basically stayed inside for a week until it was time for my sutures to be removed. The only bad part about the procedure was Dr. Azzi thought I could get my sutures removed at my doctor’s or at an urgent care clinic, but I dislike my doctor (!) and was sent away when I went to an urgent care clinic. Ridiculous. So after getting rejected there, I drove back to Dr. Azzi’s and he took them out. In the long run, I’m glad I went back over there so he could see the results and he would be his meticulous self taking the sutures out. Once the sutures were out, Dr. Azzi said I could put makeup on it, told me stay out of the sun, use sunscreen, and wear a hat when I could. He also wrote me a prescription for Retin-A because I asked him what I could use to make my face (skin) look better.
As soon as the sutures were taken out, and I put makeup under my nose, I looked almost normal (but better!) only ONE WEEK after the procedure--and it is getting better every day. I barely see a scar and my husband says he cannot see a scar. I’m not wearing makeup in the last two pictures and hopefully you can see the difference of my lip and having a shorter philtrum. I think it looks great and am so happy I had this done! Now if only Dr. Azzi could make my hair thicker...

I had my lip lift done in Feb 2018. I'm sending updated photos so you can see me currently. (Notice, same scraggly hair. ) I have not had any lip lift revisions. I have kept my lips supple with filler and had some done February 2022. I get a very natural look. Recently I wrote to my plastic surgeon, Dr. Azzi (best surgeon ever), that I thought my philtrim was too long again. I sent photos and he said he thought my lips look great but he would do a revision if I wanted. I think instead I am going to ask him for a neck lift or deep plane facelift, even though for some reason my neck looks ok here. The bands are showing and make me look old, and we all know I am not old! I am going to talk to Dr. Azzi virtually very soon and will keep you posted. But what do you gals think? Facelift? Lip lift? Hair extensions, ha? Be nice!

Today is one month after my facelift and lip lift with Dr. Azzi. He did my lip lift in 2017 (reviewed here) and I recently went to him to get a facelift and lip lift (July 18, 2022). I wanted to just fix my wrinkly neck but he said the best results would be from a facelift/necklift. He did a small lip lift, about 4 mm off. I guess it's ok. He wanted to do more, I thought it would be too much. Now I think he was right, dang it. My big complaint was the bands on my neck. Please get rid of those ugly bands!
He did. This was an easy procedure. Why? Because Dr. Azzi did not use anesthesia. I went in, took some valium, and mostly slept through it all while they played airy-fairy music. Before the surgery I took Vitamin C and Arnica Montana 30x Tablets two week before and stopped taking aspirin, hormones, etc. There were stitches behind my ears, in front of the ears, behind my neck, and under my chin. He does the best, tiniest stitches ever and now I don't see scars at all. I had a lot of bruising and that all went away after about nine days.
Dr. Azzi and his staff were, once again, the best. I saw him in Jupiter this time. (I refrained from asking him if he would marry me. That would be wrong.)
Here are some before pictures and after pictures. This time, instead of giving me your honest opinion like last time (which hurt, by the way), just tell me I look like a million bucks.