Cam My Upper Lip Size Be Reduced?

Q: I read your very interesting article about lip lifts. I was wondering if it would be possible to do the same but on the inner side of the lip? My upper lip is quite thick and juts out a bit. The outward rotation and protrusion of the lip which he conventional procedure causes would not be a good thing for me. Would that be possible?

A: A subnasal lip lift is designed to shorten the skin distance between the base of the nose and the lip vermilion and lift the central portion of the upper lip giving it more of a pout. Doing the reverse, or the procedure on the inside of the lip, has another name known as a lip reduction.

In a lip reduction, a wedge of mucosa is taken internally to derotate the lip and give it less of a pout or fullness. Unlike the lip lift which is done high on the outer lip, a lip reduction is done closer to the vermilion or low on the inside of the upper lip. This is because the outer skin is different than the inner mucosa. Mucosa is more loose and stretches more than skin. Therefore, doing the resection way away from the lip margin in a lip reduction would cause no change in the visible lip shape.

Basically, you are talking about a lip reduction procedure which is well known, successful, and fairly easy to do.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana