What Is The Best Management of Lip Advancement Scars?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Regarding lip advancements, after giving it much thought, I agree that a sub nasal lip lift would not achieve the results I’m hoping for and would love to move forward with the upper/lower lip advancements paired with upper/lower V-Y for projection. That said, while I know you’re a master of scars and so the risk is relatively low, I would love your thoughts on how I can correct less-than-ideal scarring should it happen. I’ve heard methods like CO2 lasering or even lip tattooing can help, but I would love your thoughts on the best options in case, just in case.

A:When it comes to treating lip scarring, I’m Almost always surgical revision is the best route. This of course depends on what the magnitude of that scarring is. But most of the time this is a fine white line let maybe 1 to 2 mm wider than we ideally want. People spend a lot of time and resources on laser resurfacing but this is really not usually a good route to go. Depending upon the fine line scarring it is always possible that lip tattooing is a good backup plan but the first and primary goal is to have a scar that looks good enough that does not mean anything done.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon