EXPLORE
Plastic Surgery
Dr. Barry Eppley

Explore the worlds of cosmetic
and plastic surgery with Indianapolis
Double Board-Certified Plastic
Surgeon Dr. Barry Eppley

Archive for the ‘perioral rejuvenation’ Category

Perioral Nips and Tucks - Perking Up The Aging Mouth

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

The mouth area is not spared as the rest of the face ages. Most women focus on changes in the neck and jowls as well as around the eyes. And while there are some well known procedures that make great improvements in these facial areas (facelift, blepharoplasty), how to improve the mouth area is not so standard and well known.

The mouth looks older as a result of  numerous anatomic changes. The upper lip will get longer and thinner. The corners of the mouth start to turn downward. From the downturned corners, grooves extend towards the jaw line creating marionette lines. The nasolabial folds or lip-cheek grooves which ‘parenthesize’ the mouth become more pronounced and deeper. Vertical wrinkles develop on both the upper and lower lip running into the pink (vermilion) of the lip, often resulting in lipstick which bleeds into them.

While wrinkle reduction around the mouth can be done with various laser methods and injectable fillers, improvement in that alone is often not enough to make an overall youthful change. Like the rest of the face, the mouth area can benefit from various ‘nips and tucks.’

There are some small but very effective perioral (mouth) procedures that can create some subtle but significant lifting and upturning of the lips. Youthful changes come from having more exposed vermilion and a more even or horizontal smile line. (mouth corner to corner line) These perioral rejuvenation procedures include lifts of the lip, corner of the mouth, and smile lines.

A long upper lip can be shortened with an upper lip lift, often known as a subnasal or bullhorn lip lift. It is done to primarily shorten the aged long lip, but a small amount of increased upper teeth may result when the lips are slightly open. By using a wavy or bullhorn-shaped ellipse of skin under the nose, the central part of the lip is upturned. The key to this procedure is to remove skin only. If one removes any of the deeper muscle, the upper lip will get tight and look unnatural when smiling. There will be a few millimeters or relapse over the first six months after the lift.

 Rather than done under the nose, lip advancements are done lower at the actual border of the upper lip. It creates a different and more complete upper lip lift because it effects the entire horizontal width of the upper lip. Lip advancement achieves improved exposure of the vermilion and eliminates the bottom end of the vertical lip lines. A small strip of skin abobe the lip line is removed to make the whole upper lip look bigger as well as shortens upper lip length.

The corner of the mouth lift is the ‘cutest’ of the perioral procedures because it removes such a small amount of skin to achieve its effect. Its intent is to elevate the down turned corners of the mouth so that the smile line (lips at rest) becomes more horizontal. This makes one’s mouth appearance more perky. This is done by removing a small triangle or heart-shaped piece of skin above each corner which changes the location and angulation of the sides of the mouth.

Beyond the corners of the mouth, folds of skin may drape downward. This loose skin can be improved somewhat by a facelift but some patients may not want to invest that much effort for improvement. These “parachute” folds of skin can be removed, placing a fine line scar in the lower end of the cheek-lip groove. It also creates a small amount of  lifting of the corners of the mouth as well.

One of the great benefits to these procedures is that they can be done in an office setting under local anesthesia. This keeps the cost down compared to more extensive surgery. They can be combined with injectable procedures such as Botox and fillers as well as laser and light skin treatments. They are a great compliment to be done with a facelift, either before or after.

Nips and tucks of the mouth area will result  in some small scars as a trade-off for their rejuvenating effects. Minor scar revision and touch-ups may occasionally be needed as the margin of error or forgiveness of any scar abnormality is quite small in the very visible mouth area.

Dr. Barry Eppley

http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com

http://www.ologyspa.com

Indianapolis, Indiana

The Aging Mouth - Fat Volume Loss and New Treatment Approaches

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Like the appearance of the back of one’s hands, the mouth area can be a telltale sign of one’s age. The best facelift ever done will do little for this expressive island of the central face. Focused treatment strategies must be applied to the lips and mouth. As their aging problems do not respond to other lifting and excisional tissue techniques that work well for the rest of the face.

What is it about the mouth are that makes it age? Most will think of an older mouth as one that looks ‘shrunken and wrinkled’, or at least is headed down that pathway. The lips thin, vertical wrinkle lines develop and the entire mouth  seems smaller and less supported. While there are many factors that can contribute to this appearance, most pertinently the support and presence of the underlying teeth, the visual perception of volume loss certainly seems to be a major factor.

In the July 2009 issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Drs. Rohrich and Pessa have studied one of the major issues of facial aging, fat loss. As a continuum of their ongoing and longitudinal anatomical studies of facial fat and what happens to it as we age, they have studied the submuscular fat compartments of the mouth. (perioral facial region) Cross-sectional anatomic sections were analyzed of older cadavers, ages 59 to 72. The highlights of their work demonstrated that there is fat deep to the sphincteric orbicularis oris muscles of the lip[and large vertical-oriented mentalis muscle that envelopes the chin. This fat layer is distinct from that which exists just under the skin of the chin or the mucosa and vermilion of the lips. It is postulated that loss of this fat contributes to lip ‘collapse’ (inversion) and deepening of the labiomental sulcus with aging.

How does this information help with mouth and perioral rejuvenation methods? It strongly suggests that the traditional techniques of laser resurfacing for wrinkles and augmentation of the vermilion-cutaneous borders of the lips alone is not a comprehensive approach. Neither treats one of the fundamental causes but is directed to the symptoms of the aging problem. It also suggests and explains why some augmented lips by injectable fillers may look unnatural and not ideally rejuvenated.

While increasing the visible lip roll (vermilion-cutaneous border) is the most common area where injectable fillers are placed, it misses one of the important areas of what creates a youthful lip. The wet-dry border, or rolling out or exposing of the wet-dry mucosa, is one of the signs of a fuller and more youthful lip. As the authors of this paper have pointed out, adequate volume of the submuscular fat can help recreate a more natural curvature and projection of the lips.

These deeper fat compartments of the lip and chin are not areas that are injected today by most practitioners. Besides an underappreciation of its significance is that their treatment requires a good local anesthetic block and a fair amount of injection filler volume to do so. That is a rate-limited step for some patients, particularly when the effect may only be temporary.

But in the operating room and as part of a more complete facial rejuvenation surgery, fat injections to the submuscular perioral compartments make more sense and is easy to do. While injectable fat is not always predictable, placement into deeper submuscular areas may be associated with better survival rates.

  

Dr. Barry Eppley

http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com

http://www.ologyspa.com

Indianapolis

Common Questions about Mouth Rejuvenation

Sunday, February 14th, 2010
  1. What happens to the mouth area with aging?

Like the rest of the face, aging affects the mouth by atrophy and sagging. This is manifest by lips that get thinner, the development of vertical lip wrinkles, corners of the mouth that turn down, and the appearance of marionette lines or folds. These changes collectively can give the mouth an invert U-shape or frowning look, making one look sad or even angry.

Rejuvenation of the mouth area is based on a variety of techniques including volume restoration (injectable fillers), lifting techniques (skin excision and rearrangement) and wrinkle reduction. (skin resurfacing)  

  1. How do you improve thinning lips?

The most common and simple method for lip augmentation is through the use of synthetically-created injectable fillers. While over a dozen such fillers exist, not all are appropriate for injection into the lips. Those fillers based on hyaluronic-acid (hyaluron, a sugar molecule) produce a natural and soft fuller lip that is very well accepted. Based on their concentration, they may last anywhere from four to eight months between injection treatments.

Fat is another option for lip injection. It is generally done in the operating room when other plastic surgery procedures are being done. While it is the most natural lip filling material, it’s downside is that its survival is not predictable and some resorption does occur.

  1. Are there any permanent lip augmentation procedures?

The appearance of a larger lip that is permanent is possible by changing the amount of visible vermilion. (pink part of the lip) This can be done by removing a strip of skin above (upper lip) or below (lower lip) where the vermilion meets the skin. The vermilion is then moved up or below to cover where the skin was removed. This produces a permanent enlargement of the lip…at the price of a fine line scar along the lip line. This procedure is known as a lip or vermilion advancement and can be used on either the upper or the lower lip.

The upper lip vermilion can also be lifted without removing skin directly above the lip line. By removing a strip of skin from beneath the nose, rather than lower at the lip line, the central part of the upper lip can be lifted to show more vermilion. Known as a lip lift, it can only be used on the upper lip (there is no nose on your chin!) and it does not lift the sides of the upper lip which are outside of the nose.

  1. Can a facelift help get rid of my mouth frown?

Downturning of the corners of the mouth is a common perioral sign of aging. Although there are some people who have it naturally even when they are young. Contrary to what many people believe, it is not possible to lift the corner of the mouth (commissure) with a pull that comes from the side. (lateral) In addition, the point of pull is far away (by the ear) from the commissure so it would have little effect on it even if it was from the right direction.

  1. What is the best way to get my corners of mouth lifted back up?

Changing the orientation of the corner of the mouth to any significant degree requires a procedure that is done directly on it. Known as a corner of the mouth lift (COML), a triangle of skin is removed just above the commissure. Some plastic surgeons remove a triangle, others remove a heart-shape piece of skin. Either way, the corner is moved up to where the skin was removed. This little procedure can make a big difference in where the corner of the mouth is located. The COML is a small but powerful procedure that,if not done carefully, can actually turn the mouth corners up too far creating what is known as a  joker’s smile deformity.

If the corner’s of the mouth is not turned down too severely, the use of injectable fillers can have a mild lifting effect.

 

  1. What can improve the lines that run down from the corners of my mouth?

Vertical grooves or folds develop from the corners of the mouth down to the jawline because of the development of jowling. Loose and sagging skin falls forward toward the mouth and chin where it bunchs up against the more fixed skin of the chin. This creates a mound or fold which gives the appearance that there is a groove or line in front of it. This also makes any downturning of the corner of the mouth look worse.

Injectable fillers can certainly soften the appearance of the marionette lines, although they are only temporary. They can also be improved from the pull of a facelift and such tissue repositioning directly treats the cause of the problem.

In older patients who do not want a facelift or who have had one and have developed recurrent marionette lines due to inelastic skin, one can undergo a direct fold excision. A lenticular-shaped segment of skin is removed directly along the fold. While it does create a fine line scar, it is very effective at reducing its appearance.

  1. How do you treat lip wrinkles?

Lip wrinkles develop as a direct result of the underlying action of the orbicularis muscle. When combined with thin skin, the appearance of vertical lip lines is inevitable. Small amounts of Botox can be used to soften the muscle action but too much will affect the way one smiles. Therefore, it is more effective to either try and fill the larger wrinkles directly and/or resurface the lip skin. The best results come from the simultaneous use of both methods. Laser resurfacing is a commonly used method that will soften the depth of most lip wrinkles. Whether fractional laser resurfacing is better than traditional laser methods is a matter of current discussion. Old-style dermabrasion is a time-proven technique for very deep wrinkles that is more effective than laser resurfacing in these more severely wrinkled lips.

 

Dr. Barry Eppley

http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com

http://www.ologyspa.com

Clarian North Medical Center, Carmel, Indiana

Clarian West Medical Center, Avon, Indiana

Indianapolis

Lifting Procedures for the Frowning Mouth (Perioral Plastic Surgery)

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Age-related changes around the mouth, known as perioral aging, are a very common concern for many women. Like the rest of the face, the mouth area deflates and sags with aging. One of the most effects of aging is that the upper lip sags, particularly at the corners, causing the mouth to sag. As the mouth corners turn down, the loose skin and tissue to the side of the mouth falls forward creating what is known as a marionette fold. The combination of both of these effects can create an inverted U-shape to the mouth, making it look aged as well as sad.  

When considering rejuvenation methods, the mouth is like an island. It’s location is far away from the pull of any traditional method of skin lifting such as the lateral pull of a traditional facelift or the superior pull of a midface lift. While both of these procedures do provide some improvement to the sides of the mouth and marionettes folds, it is not as significant as most people think. Early recurrence is common because of the stretched out and thin skin that most b elderly have.

There are several changes that can help improve the appearance of the aging mouth. These would include fuller lips, a more horizontal orientation of the mouth corners (commissures), and softening or elimination of the marionette folds. Injectable fillers are a common method used for perioral rejuvenation. While they can make the lips more full and soften deep vertical lip lines, they will not improve the frowning or downturned look to the mouth.

Lifting of the mouth is best done by removing selected areas of skin. The most common mouth lifting procedure done is a corner of the mouth lift. (COML) By removing small triangles or heart-shaped segments of skin just above the commissures, the corners can be immediately and simply repositioned. Whether done in conjunction with a facelift in the operating room or as an isolated procedure done in the office under local anesthesia, it is very effective and leaves very discrete scars that I have not seen to be of any significant concerns. One important consideration when doing the procedure is to not let the length of the scar that trails away from the commissure get too long.

While the COML is directed to improvement of the orientation of the commissure, it will not help the appearance of the marionette folds. That requires a separate procedure which is less commonly done. Most patients will do well with injectable fillers in the marionette lines but older patients do not respond very effectively with this treatment method. When the marionette folds are significant, a method of skin removal known as a lentiform excision or marionette fold excision (MFE) can be used. This is a modified ellipse of skin removal that starts above the corner of the mouth along the upper lip line and extends inferiorly into the marionette line crease. How far down the excision pattern goes is determined by how severe the marionette fold is.

Marionette fold excision initially seems aggressive and there is justifiable concern about the scar. But in the elderly patient with thin and inelastic skin, the scar can be quite thin and heal inconspicuously. This is well known in elderly patients in extensive experience from facial skin cancer excision and closure. It can be performed after unsuccessful improvement or early recurrence after a facelift or done at the same time as a facelift. The length of the resultant marionette line scar will depend on how severe the fold is and whether it is done in conjunction with a facelift.

Rejuvenation of the aged and frowning mouth may benefit from excisional procedures. While one should usually try injectable fillers first, the age of the patient and the severity of the downturning may allow one to skip right to excision. COML and MFE, while creating some scar, can make improvements that are not achievable otherwise.

         

Barry L. Eppley, M.D., D.M.D.

http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com

http://www.ologyspa.com

Clarian North Medical Center, Carmel, Indiana

Clarian West Medical Center, Avon, Indiana

Indianapolis

Teeth Whitening for Perioral Rejuvenation in Plastic Surgery

Monday, November 30th, 2009

As a plastic surgeon who regularly does procedures to enhance and improve the perioral region of the face, the color of one’s teeth can also make a significant impact on these results. Smiling is an expression that is framed externally by the face and internally by one’s teeth. Full lush lips that move to reveal dungy and yellow teeth is an aesthetic distraction. I encourage my patients to consider teeth whitening as part of their facial rejuvenation process and it is a service that is offered at my spa and office facilities.

Having a dental degree and training, patients frequently ask my advice on dental issues including teeth whitening. Many teeth whitening products are available from the drugstore to a dentist. Strips, trays, toothpastes, mouthwashes, and even light systems are available to improve tooth color. But how effective are they and which is best?

An important concept to understand is why teeth discolor? Time and what you eat are the main causes. As you age, the outer layer of the teeth (enamel) becomes thinner and easier to see through. Like glass, one can see through to the second layer known as the dentin. Since the dentin is naturally darker, our teeth begin to appear less white. In addition, the enamel has tubules which can absorb color from food and drink such as coffee, red wine and tobacco, further contributing to a dull and yellow appearance. To get teeth whiter, one essentially has to get the glass (enamel) cleaner.

The key ingredient by which all forms of whiteners work is peroxide. By releasing oxygen, it bubbles away stains in the enamel like wiping a glass window clean. The higher the concentration of peroxide and the longer it can remain in contact with your teeth, the better the result will be. The bleaching action of peroxide solutions can make some teeth temporarily sensitive after treatment as it opens up the tubules down into the sensitive dentin and nerve tissues of the tooth.

For at-home whitening, trays and strips can be effective. These “barrier method” whiteners keep the peroxide solution against the teeth until the solution becomes ineffective. While no single treatment session (usually 30 minutes) produces a dramatic whitening effect, daily use over weeks can improve tooth color up to four or five shades. The highest concentration of peroxide in strips or trays may be up to 9 to 10%. These methods are popular because of their ease of use and low expense. They are not perfect as they are not custom fit. Whitening strips can slip and slide around and may become wrinkled or folded. Disposable trays do not fit everyone well as they are designed for the average-sized mouth.

Paint-on whiteners have become well-marketed and they allow one to apply the peroxide solution to specific teeth or spot areas of teeth. Because there is no barrier for the peroxide, however, it quickly becomes diluted and loses any significant contact time. Some products have a longer application time due to holding agents but they are still inferior to strips and trays. These whitening brushes have gained some popularity because they are portable, not messy, and cause no tooth sensitivity.

Whitening toothpastes can produce a mild brightening effect of maybe a shade over time. They work by mainly by a light abrasive effect. Some do have peroxide action. Again, duration of contact is important and several minutes of brushing per session are needed if any significant effect is to be seen. Some whitening toothpastes also have ingredients that prevent new stains from sticking to teeth. Whitening mouthwashs have more recently become available. While they have good foaming action, they don’t stay in contact with teeth very long. But the combination of a whitening toothpaste and rinse does give teeth several minutes of whitening action every day. At the least, their use may be able to get rid of any stains that are acquired by food and drink on a daily basis.

Professional whitening done at your dentist uses one of three treatment methods. The fabrication of custom bleaching trays for at-home use with differing strengths of peroxide solutions. In-office strong peroxide gels with an applied gum barrier. And light treatments which have accelerated whitening up to 6 or 7 shades in a single session. The light helps intensify the effects of an already high strength peroxide. With such accelerated whitening, tooth sensitivity is common and persistent. However, any dramatic whitening can fade quickly without at-home maintenance (usually a tray, whitening strips or toothpaste). You also have to watch what you eat and drink for a couple of days after, since tooth enamel is very receptive to new color from food or drink for the first 48 hours after a bleaching treatment.

Not everyone can really whiten their teeth significantly. If your front teeth are crowns or veneers, they can not be whitened at all. If your teeth appear more gray than yellow (commonly caused by antibiotics taken as a child), they will not lighten. A simple method to test your whitening potential is to hold up a white piece of paper or 3 x 5 card next to your teeth. If your teeth appear yellowish, they will get whiter. If they appear gray, they will likely not get lighter.

Teeth whitening is an important part of making one’s smile more aesthetically pleasing. It is frequently overlooked in the plastic surgery patient who can get get caught up in lip enlargement, wrinkle reduction, and other methods or perioral rejuvenation. Numerous effective methods of tooth whitening exist. They fundamentally differ based on how long they take to work, how much lightening can be achieved, and their risk of temporary tooth sensitivity.

Dr. Barry Eppley

http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com

http://www.ologyspa.com

Clarian North Medical Center, Carmel, Indiana

Clarian West Medical Center, Avon, Indiana

Indianapolis

 

Lip and Corner Tuckups for the Aging Mouth

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

One of the telltale and most bothersome signs for women as they age is the development of an aging or “old mouth”. Besides the lines and wrinkles that form in the surrounding skin, other anatomic changes occur that change its overall appearance. The upper lip begins to get longer and thinner. The drooping skin from above the lips forces the corners of the mouth to turn downward. As the corners turn downward, furrows extend from the corner of the mouth downward, known as marionette lines. The lower lip sags and the horizontal groove beneath it (labiomental sulcus) becomes more pronounced. The nasolabial folds or lip-cheek grooves, which bracket the mouth from above, become deeper.

Skin resurfacing methods, such as lasers and chemical peels, are useful to decrease wrinkling around the mouth area. But they often only improve just a part of the problem. Injectable fillers add a good method of rejuvenation because they replace lost volume and help provide a small lift to some areas of the mouth. When combined with skin resurfacing, some nice changes in the aging mouth can be seen.

In some cases, the mouth or perioral area requires some surgical manipulation to get that more youthful look.  There is a set of small but very effective mouth procedures that are more effective at lifting and upturning than any injectable filler alone. The goal here is to have fuller lips with a more even or horizontal smile line. These perioral rejuvenation procedures include lifts of the lip, corner of the mouth, and smile lines.

The simplest lift is that of the upper lip. It is performed to shorten the long lip of aging, allowing the upper teeth to show slightly when the lips are slightly open. By using a wavy or bullhorn-shaped ellipse of skin under the nose, the central part of the lip is upturned. Lip advancements, however, are more widely used as they affect the entire upper lip. Lip advancement achieves exposure of more of the pink mucosa (vermilion) and removes some of the vertical lip lines that run directly into the lips. A small strip of skin outside the lip line is removed to make the lips look bigger

There is really only one way to lift the downturned mouth corners. The corner of the mouth lift is performed to elevate the down turned corners of the mouth so that the smile line (lips at rest) becomes more horizontal. This makes one’s mouth appearance more perky. This is done by  removing a small triangle of skin above each corner which changes the location and angulation of the sides of the mouth.

Just beyond the corner of the mouth can lie folds of skin which hang down. While it is tempting to think that this loose skin can be improved by a facelift, it usually is not. These “parachute” folds of skin can be improved by direct excision of loose skin and fat in the lower portion of the nasolabial fold. This excision of skin places a small scar along the lower end of the nasolabial fold. It can also help with some minor lifting of the corners of the mouth as well.

Any direct excision of skin in the mouth area do result in scars. Patients have to be willing to accept that trade-off for the benefit of mouth rejuvenation effects. While most of these scars heal well and very indiscriminately, some may need revision or smoothing out later. In my Indianapolis plastic surgery experience, these small revision rates are most commonly needed for corner of the mouth lifts and about 10% to 15% of patients may benefit by them.

 

Barry L. Eppley, M.D., D.M.D.

http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com

http://www.ologyspa.com

Clarian North Medical Center, Carmel, Indiana

Clarian West Medical Center, Avon, Indiana

Indianapolis

Surgical Frown Correction - The Corner of the Mouth Lift

Monday, May 12th, 2008

Many female patients today seek rejuvenation procedures which involve making the mouth area look better or less aged. As women age, some will lose lip volume, develop upper and lower lip wrinkles, and have the corners of the mouth draw down. This often creates a sad, mad, or unhappy appearance to the lip area. Most commonly, lip injections with hyaluronic fillers such as Juvaderm, Restylane, or Perlane are done to enhance the size of the lips, help fill out some of the fine wrinkles which are around the pink part of the lips, and raise up the mouth corners to some degree. While these forms of injectable treatments are effective and non-invasive, they are not permanent.

 
The corner of the mouth lift is a surgical option that has lasting effects. It is an old procedure that has been around for many decades. The corner of the mouth lift should be more popular than it is given that it is a minor procedure that can be performed alone in the office or as part of many other facial rejuvenation procedures. By taking a small triangle of skin from just above the drooping mouth corner, the downhanging mouth corner can be turned up quickly and easily. It is a very powerful procedure for such a small removal of skin and one must be careful not to overdo it by raising the corner of the mouth too far up and having too long of a scar. It does create a very small scar at the corner of the mouth but it is nearly indetectable if done right.

 
The key to a good corner of the mouth lift result is making the mouth corner level, and not more, and keeping the scar small that does not wander far from the corner of the mouth. Many facelift patients mistakenly think that the facelift will pull up the corner which is a misunderstanding. That is why some facelift patients with ‘frowns’ needs a concurrent corner of the mouth lift procedure.

 
I have found this procedure to be well accepted and most patients are surprised when I mention it as they have never heard of it. As an in-office procedure, it works well with lip injections and lip lifts and advancements. The frown that runs down into the ‘marionette lines’ will usually need filling of the deeper marionette line with injectable synthetic fillers, fat grafts, or a soft gore-tex implant, depending upon whether the procedure is done in the office or the operating room. For those patients with chronic irritation due to salivary overflow (a condition known as angular cheilitis), a corner of the mouth may even be curative as it rearranges the angulation of the ’spout’ and creating a more competent lip dam effect.


Dr. Barry Eppley
http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com
http://www.ologyspa.com
Clarian North Medical Center, Carmel, Indiana
Clarian West Medical Center, Avon, Indiana
Indianapolis

Nasal Lip Lift

Monday, November 19th, 2007

Lifting the Upper Lip from the Nose!

The most dramatic method of increasing the size of the upper lip is the lip lift procedure. To expose more pink of the upper lip (which can dramatically increase its size), skin is removed from just above the pink portion of the upper lip. This cut out pattern is made like a ‘cupid’s bow’ (which is often necessary given that many small upper lips have little definition and are quite ‘flat’) which provides nice shape to the upper lip in the central most pouty area. This procedure, however, is not that commonly done as injectable fillers do very nicely for most people and do not leave a scar. They are, of course, not permanent. However, in those with a very thin upper lip particularly older patients who also have some upper lip lines and wrinkles,, the lip scar may well be a reasonable trade-off ffor the permanency of the result.

 

Another option to lift the upper lip is not to place the scar at the upper lip but to place it beneath the nose. This is called a subnasal lip lift. In this procedure, the cutout of skin is done right under the nose, so when it is closed, the scar lies in the natural groove at the base of the nose. This does hide the scar well. As the width of the cutout of skin is just the width of the nose, only the central portion of the upper lip (cupid’s bow area) actually gets lifted. The sides of the upper lip stay the same as they get no effect of the central upward pull from the skin cutout. This is the other difference that distinguishes the subnasal lip lift from the more traditional upper lip advancement. Which operation is best depends on what upper lip problem the patient has and where they can ‘deal’ with the scar placement.

 

Dr Barry Eppley
www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com
www.ologyspa.com
Clarian North Medical Center, Carmel, Indiana
Clarian West Medical Center, Avon, Indiana
Indianapolis


Dr. Barry EppleyDr. Barry Eppley

Dr. Barry Eppley is an extensively trained plastic and cosmetic surgeon with more than 20 years of surgical experience. He is both a licensed physician and dentist as well as double board-certified in both Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. This training allows him to perform the most complex surgical procedures from cosmetic changes to the face and body to craniofacial surgery. Dr. Eppley has made extensive contributions to plastic surgery starting with the development of several advanced surgical techniques. He is a revered author, lecturer and educator in the field of plastic and cosmetic surgery.

Read More


Free Plastic Surgery Consultation

*required fields



Pricing

The cost of any type of elective plastic surgery plays a major role in the decision to undergo the procedure(s).

More Info


Military Discount

We offer discounts on plastic surgery to our United States Armed Forces.

More Info


Categories