Subnasal Lip Lift

Q: Dear Dr Eppley, After a rhinoplasty I was left with a big space between my nose and lips. My surgery was 6 days ago. Do you think this might still change and I should wait longer until considering a subnasal  lip lift? Thank you so much!

A: It would be entirely premature to judge what effect your rhinoplasty will have on your upper lip length at just six days after surgery. While it is unknown to me as to what type of rhinoplasty you have had, any rhinoplasty surgery that results in tip rotation and/or tip shortening is going to initially create the perception that the upper lip is longer. In reality it be now more exposed with the change (opening) of the nasolabial angle…or it is possible that it may have indeed become lengthened. But until all the swelling from the rhinoplasty surgery has resolved and the tissues have fully settled, any aesthetic judgment on upper lip length can not truly be appreciated. I would not perform an upper lip lift on a rhinoplasty until they are six months out from the procedure, not only because of the uncertainty of the aesthetics, but because of the intervening skin between an open rhinoplasty incision and that of the subnasal lip lift.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana