Lip Lifts and Lip Size

Q: Dr. Eppley, I would like to reduce the length of my philtrum, however, I have normal size lips! I am concerned about changing their shape and size. As a male I like the shape and size of my lips as they are and do not want them to look any fuller. But I don’t like the length of my philtrum, so I am getting a lip lift. My question is whether a small lip lift of about 1.5mm in an average person would create any change in the shape of the red upper lip ? If I place my finger where the base of my nose is, and pull the soft tissue upward, it makes my upper lip look ridiculous and triangular shaped, even if I only pull upward a little. Will a lip lift create the same difference to the upper lip as pulling the philtrum upward with my finger does? Please help me stop worrying! 

A: The two comments I can make about your upper lip lift concerns are the following:

1) There is not a 1:1mm correction between the how much skin is removed from under the nose and how much the central upper lip enlarges. It is probably closer to 50% or less from that of the skin removed.

2) Using your finger way over exaggerates the effect of a lip lift and is not representative of it. The wooden end off a Q-tip is more representative to do some lifting under the nose to see the lip lift effect.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana