A lip lift is a plastic surgery procedure that modifies the cosmetic appearance of the lips by reshaping them to increase the prominence of the vermilion border; and to enhance the facial area above the lips into a more aesthetically pleasing shape. In corrective praxis, a lip lift procedure is distinguished from lip enhancement, the augmentation of the lips, which can be effected with a non-surgical procedure.
There are surgical and non-surgical techniques for effecting lip lift and lip augmentation to the lips. The surgical techniques include incisions below the nose and in the periphery of the lips area of the face, the perioral area; other techniques effect the surgical incisions from inside the mouth.
The aesthetic ideal of a mouth with youthful lips—shaped like a lozenge—features an upper lip with a pronounced Cupid's bow, and much fullness to each lip; however, such an ideal physiognomy declines with age, and the lips shrink and lose anatomic definition, as the lips sag, which affects the aesthetics of the smile, by revealing less of the teeth during a relaxed smile. [1] [2] The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported 3.2 million cosmetic surgery procedures performed to mature patients, aged 55 years and older, in 2008. The patient demand for facial rejuvenation indicates that most requests do not include the mouth, which results in a surgical outcome that is aesthetically deficient. [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] In the 1980s, when collagen, originally the principal filler for the lips, proved limited in effecting permanent correction, plastic surgeons then developed surgical techniques for lifting and augmenting the lips, and correcting aesthetic defects and deformities. [7]
A systematic review regarding "non-filling" procedures for lip augmentation classified lip lift techniques in four surgical categories: the direct lip lift (DLL), indirect lip lift (ILL), corner of the mouth lift (CML), and the V–Y lip advancement (VYLA). [8]
The "gull-wing lift" is an effective surgical technique for increasing the prominence (display) of the vermilion coloring of the lips, by removing skin (and other tissues) as required, either directly from or from above the white line of skin that borders onto, and sets off, the vermilion of the lips (the white roll). The incisions remove tissue and significantly alter the shape of the lips by moving up the vermilion from both peaks of the Cupid's bow outwards to the commissures, the corners of the mouth. Incisions are also made below the lower lip to increase the projection of the vermilion of the lower lip. This gull-wing lip lift usually requires an OR time of approximately 20 minutes; post-operatively, the swelling of the lips subsides at 1–2 weeks and the tightness subsides at 2–4 months. Asymmetry, under-correction, and hypertrophic scarring are possible complications. [1]
A technical variant of the gull-wing lip lift is the sub-nasal lip lift (bull-horn lip lift), which involves the removal of either an ellipse or a curved-edge ellipse of tissue from under the nose. The skin then is raised, and sutured to lift the lip and expose more of the upper-lip vermilion. [2] [9] Depending upon the indications of the patient, this technique can increase the drooping the corners of the mouth (commissures); thus, the sub-nasal lip lift often includes a corner-lift surgical step. [6] In the corner lift procedure (external angle oral commissuroplasty), triangles of tissue are resected from above the commissures, thereby elevating the corners of the mouth. [3] A descending wedge of tissue can also be removed to add contour to the Cupid's bow or to reduce bulky lips. [2]
Another variation is the thread lift, in which a square stitch is placed from one nostril to the other and down to the peaks of the Cupid's bow. This variation has fallen out of favor because the results are short-lived.[ citation needed ]
Another variation is the double duck lip lift, in which the columella of the nose is not incised.[ citation needed ]
Another variation of the procedure consists of a lenticular excision of the white skin surrounding the upper oral commissure in order to lift this part of the lips. This technique has also been dubbed the "Smile Lift".[ citation needed ]
Another variation of the procedure is for a surgeon to make an incision inside the mouth to loosen the mucosa and vermilion, which are then advanced and secured, leaving a portion of scar tissue inside the mouth which may take 2–4 months to heal. [3] Yet another technique uses a "W" incision inside the mouth to create several "V" flaps, which are then used in a V-to-Y plasty technique to advance the vermilion of either or both lips. [3] This procedure leaves no exposed areas inside the mouth, but can be painful and has a lengthy recovery period. [5]
Although surgeons report patient satisfaction with these techniques to be "high," no one variation has been sufficiently applauded to become the standard procedure. [7] Most of these methods result in an increase in the amount of vermilion visible. Quantitative data exists for the V-Y lip augmentation, for which statistically significant increases in upper vermilion height and surface area have been measured. [7] A systematic review regarding "non-filling" procedures for lip augmentation published in 2014 showed that philtrum length decreases with Indirect Lip Lift techniques, but not with V-Y lip augmentation.
Complications which may arise from lip lift surgery include:
Because of this, patients must be on bed rest for at least a week. In particular, the technique of removing skin at or directly above the white roll has been singled out as resulting in unfavorable scarring and stiffness in the lips. [2] [4] [10]
Advancements and improvements in non-surgical fillers available for lip enhancement has reduced demand for the lip lift procedure.[ citation needed ]
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns. While reconstructive surgery aims to reconstruct a part of the body or improve its functioning, cosmetic surgery aims at improving the appearance of it.
Rhinoplasty, commonly called nose job, medically called nasal reconstruction is a plastic surgery procedure for altering and reconstructing the nose. There are two types of plastic surgery used – reconstructive surgery that restores the form and functions of the nose and cosmetic surgery that changes the appearance of the nose. Reconstructive surgery seeks to resolve nasal injuries caused by various traumas including blunt, and penetrating trauma and trauma caused by blast injury. Reconstructive surgery can also treat birth defects, breathing problems, and failed primary rhinoplasties. Rhinoplasty may remove a bump, narrow nostril width, change the angle between the nose and the mouth, or address injuries, birth defects, or other problems that affect breathing, such as a deviated nasal septum or a sinus condition.
Facial feminization surgery (FFS) is a set of reconstructive surgical procedures that alter typically male facial features to bring them closer in shape and size to typical female facial features. FFS can include various bony and soft tissue procedures such as brow lift, rhinoplasty, cheek implantation, and lip augmentation.
Breast augmentation and augmentation mammoplasty is a cosmetic surgery technique using breast-implants and fat-graft mammoplasty techniques to increase the size, change the shape, and alter the texture of the breasts of a woman. Augmentation mammoplasty is applied to correct congenital defects of the breasts and the chest wall. As an elective cosmetic surgery, primary augmentation changes the aesthetics – of size, shape, and texture – of healthy breasts.
East Asian blepharoplasty, also known as "double eyelid surgery", is a type of cosmetic surgery where the skin around the eye is reshaped (blepharoplasty). The purpose of the procedure is to create an upper eyelid with a crease from an eyelid that is naturally without a crease.
A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy, is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure used to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are multiple surgical techniques and exercise routines. Surgery usually involves the removal of excess facial skin, with or without the tightening of underlying tissues, and the redraping of the skin on the patient's face and neck. Exercise routines tone underlying facial muscles without surgery. Surgical facelifts are effectively combined with eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) and other facial procedures and are typically performed under general anesthesia or deep twilight sleep.
Chin augmentation using surgical implants can alter the underlying structure of the face, providing better balance to the facial features. The specific medical terms mentoplasty and genioplasty are used to refer to the reduction and addition of material to a patient's chin. This can take the form of chin height reduction or chin rounding by osteotomy, or chin augmentation using implants. Improving the facial balance is commonly performed by enhancing the Chin using an implant inserted through the mouth. The goal is to provide a suitable projection of the chin as well as the correct height of the chin which is in balance with the other facial features.
Blepharoplasty is the plastic surgery operation for correcting defects, deformities, and disfigurations of the eyelids; and for aesthetically modifying the eye region of the face. With the excision and the removal, or the repositioning of excess tissues, such as skin and adipocyte fat, and the reinforcement of the corresponding muscle and tendon tissues, the blepharoplasty procedure resolves functional and cosmetic problems of the periorbita, which is the area from the eyebrow to the upper portion of the cheek. The procedure is more common among women, who accounted for approximately 85% of blepharoplasty procedures in 2014 in the US and 88% of such procedures in the UK.
Lip augmentation is a type of procedure that aims to increase lip fullness through enlargement using fillers such as hyaluronic acid, fat or implants.
Labiaplasty is a plastic surgery procedure for altering the labia minora and the labia majora, the folds of skin surrounding the human vulva. There are two main categories of women seeking cosmetic genital surgery: those with congenital conditions such as intersex, and those with no underlying condition who experience physical discomfort or wish to alter the appearance of their genitals because they believe they do not fall within a normal range.
Facial rejuvenation is a cosmetic treatment, which aims to restore a youthful appearance to the human face. Facial rejuvenation can be achieved through either surgical and/or non-surgical options. Procedures can vary in invasiveness and depth of treatment. Surgical procedures can restore facial symmetry through targeted procedures and facial restructuring and skin alterations. Non-surgical procedures can target specific depths of facial structures and treat localized facial concerns such as wrinkles, skin laxity, hyperpigmentation and scars.
Cheek augmentation is a cosmetic surgical procedure that is intended to emphasize the cheeks on a person's face. To augment the cheeks, a plastic surgeon may place a solid implant over the cheekbone. Injections with the patients' own fat or a soft tissue filler, like Restylane, are also popular. Rarely, various cuts to the zygomatic bone (cheekbone) may be performed. Cheek augmentation is commonly combined with other procedures, such as a face lift or chin augmentation.
A breast implant is a prosthesis used to change the size, shape, and contour of a person's breast. In reconstructive plastic surgery, breast implants can be placed to restore a natural looking breast following a mastectomy, to correct congenital defects and deformities of the chest wall or, cosmetically, to enlarge the appearance of the breast through breast augmentation surgery.
Mastopexy is the plastic surgery mammoplasty procedure for raising sagging breasts upon the chest of the woman, by changing and modifying the size, contour, and elevation of the breasts. In a breast-lift surgery to re-establish an aesthetically proportionate bust for the woman, the critical corrective consideration is the tissue viability of the nipple-areola complex (NAC), to ensure the functional sensitivity of the breasts for lactation and breast-feeding.
A brachioplasty, commonly called an arm lift, is a surgical procedure to reshape and provide improved contour to the upper arms and connecting area of chest wall. While “brachioplasty” is commonly used to describe a specific procedure for the upper arms, the term can also be used to describe any surgical arm contouring. Brachioplasty is often used to address issues such as excessive loose skin or excessive fat in the arms when it does not respond well to diet and exercise. Brachioplasty is a common procedure for patients who have experienced massive weight loss and has gained popularity since 2000.
David Ralph Millard, Jr. was a plastic surgeon who developed several techniques used in cleft lip and palate surgeries. He also popularized the double eyelid surgery or "Asian blepharoplasty" to “deorientalize” patients’ faces while stationed in South Korea during the Korean War. He was chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine for 28 years, and maintained a private practice in Miami.
Trans-umbilical breast augmentation (TUBA) is a type of breast augmentation in which breast implants are placed through an incision at the navel rather than the chest.
Andrew A. Jacono, M.D., FACS is an American plastic surgeon and creator of the minimal access deep-plane extended (MADE) facelift, a minimally invasive hybrid facelift. Jacono starred in the Discovery Fit & Health television program Facing Trauma as the volunteer surgeon who reconstructed faces disfigured in abusive relationships and other violent circumstances.
Facial Autologous Muscular Injection is also known as Fat Autograft Muscular Injection, as Autologous Fat Injection, as Micro-lipoinjection, as Fat Transfer and as Facial Autologous Mesenchymal Integration, abbreviated as FAMI. The technique is a non-incisional pan-facial rejuvenation procedure using the patient'own stem cells from fat deposits. FAMI is an Adult stem cell procedure used to address the loss of volume in the face due to aging or surgery repair in restoring facial muscles, bone surfaces and very deep fat pads. The procedure involves removing adult stem cells of fatty tissue from lower body, and refining it to be able to re-inject living adipose stem cells into specific areas of the face without incision. FAMI is an outpatient procedure and an alternative to artificial fillers, blepharoplasty or various face lifts. The procedure does not require general anesthesia and risks of an allergic reaction are minimal due to the use of the patient's own tissue used as the facial injection.
White roll is the white line that borders the top of the upper lip. It's an adnexal mass of specialized glands and fat. White roll occurs naturally for nearly everyone, although it can be not white and less visible for dark skinned individuals. Well defined white roll indicates youthfulness and is considered aesthetically pleasing.