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Lip Lift
Many patients who have lost significant bulk to their lip are better suited by a procedure called a lip lift. Most patients are encouraged to first try collagen injections to see if these injections can give them sufficient augmentation in a manner to make them pleased with their appearance. Some patients whose upper lip is very thin are not the best candidates for Gore-Tex lip augmentation. Once all other augmentation methods have been discussed and exhausted, a lip lift can be entertained.
When evaluating whether a patient is a candidate for a lip lift, computer imaging is utilized to determine what is a realistic augmentation for the patient. Measurements to the millimeter are also taken off of the computerized image to yield surgical measurements for precision. An aesthetically pleasing lip has a symmetrical contour to cupid's bow. A 1:1 height ration between the vertical height of the upper lip and vertical height of the lower lip is also sought.
To increase the show of the upper lip, a lip lift is becoming more popular. This procedure is performed with the patient under a twilight or general anesthetic. A surgical incision utilizing the laser diamond scalpel is made at the junction of the white lip and pink lip. The pink lip tissue is elevated around the upper lip muscle into the region of the mouth. The pink lip is then rolled further outward toward the white lip. At the lateral edges of the lip, a small portion of tissue is usually removed from the white lip in order to give a greater bulk effect to the pink lip. This is then sewn with very fine stitches to give a barely perceptible scar. Stitches are removed in 5-7 days. Make-up can then be applied. It usually takes several months for the scar to become barely perceptible. To increase the appearance of bulk to the lower lip, a lip advancement is usually performed. This entails dissecting segmental V-patterns of tissue from the lower lip and sewing them in an advanced manner called "V-Y". Stitches placed in the lower lip are usually of the dissolvable type.
The best candidate for a lip lift is the patient that has an ultrathin upper and lower lip. The lip lift is a very gratifying procedure for these patients as it allows them to augment their lips surgically when filling materials would either be seen by the observer or felt by the patient having them done.
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