Subnasal Lip Lift

Q: Dr. Eppley, Thank you very much for getting back to me. Please see attached, a few pictures. Two show the lower lip at rest. As you can see, there is virtually no display of the upper incisors and significant display of the lower incisors. Also the one showing me smiling shows some drooping of the lower lip on my right hand side (photos taken in selfie mode so it’s flipped). I have had a genioplasty done previously – the drooping may or may not have been related to that. I cannot remember if it was present prior to the genioplasty. 

I don’t know if I am a suitable candidate for a lip lift but I was thinking of getting assessed for an upper and lower lip lift. In terms of a lower lip lift ,I am not sure if you do this particular procedure?

A: Thank you for sending your pictures. As for the upper lip, a subnasal lip lift would help with the show of the central and lateral incisors a bit. The other alternative would be an upper lip horizontal mucosal resection, a more direct approach, if one also thought their vermilion show of the upper lip was excessive. Your central lower lip droop reminds me of what can occur after a genioplasty procedure. Raising up the lower lip is very challenging and often not that successful as there are not anatomic structures to fix it to like that of the upper lip. I have used the V-Y advancement many times on the lower lip for that purpose and have found the improvement obtained is usually moderate and not a complete correction.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana