Do I Need A Lip Lift Or A Lip Advancement?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Hello. I had a chin implant removed after a 7 mm mandibular advancement five years ago. I feel I developed ptosis since the removal of the implant. Also, I have a very long upper lip 21mm and considering this correction as well. How many lip lifts have you performed?  I am very happy I found your website!

A: Although you only had a frontal view picture attached, I can see evidence of chin soft tissue sag and some lower lip incompetence at rest. With lip sag an intraoral resuspension technique is usually preferred. For your upper lip, its thinness from one corner to the other suggests that a lip advancement would be a more effective procedure than a lip lift. A lip lift only affects the central aspect of the upper lip. If this is evenly slightly overdone with thin lip sides, it can look unnatural. A lip advancement moves the entire vermilion upward from one corner to the other and makes a very thin lip look more naturally larger…plus it also removes some vertical lip wrinkles that are just at the vermilion-cutaneous border. I have performed well over 200 lip lifts, lip advancements and corner of the mouth lifts over the years.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana