Does A Corner Of Mouth Lift Leave Scars?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in a lip corner uplift. The ends of my mouth are drooping and I wish to enhance the corners of my mouth so I don’t look depressed, when I am not! I have attached a picture of my droopy mouth for you to see what I mean. Thanks

A: A corner of mouth lift is the only surgical procedure that can change the inverted U-shape lip line into a straighter one. Injectable fillers can help provide some corner of the mouth lift but its effects are limited and only temporary.

While there is no question you would benefit from a corner of mouth lift, I do have some concerns about the small scars that result given your skin pigmentation. The most effective corner of the mouth lifts (traditional triangular excision) do leave some small linear scars that radiate outward from the corners of about 7mms. The other corner of the mouth lift technique is the ‘pennant method’ where all scars remain at the vermilion-skin border but it does not lift the mouth corners as much.

Given your Hispanic ethnicity I would tend to choose the pennant corner of mouth lift method so as to keep the scars at the vermilion-cutaneous location. I would accept the trade-off of a less result to reduce potential scar issues.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana