Every plastic surgery procedure has numerous issues that every patient who is undergoing a procedure should know. These explanations are always on a consent form that you should read in detail before surgery. This consent form, while many perceive as strictly a legal protection for the doctor, is actually more intended to improve the understanding of the various lip enhancement procedures. The following is what Dr. Eppley discusses with his patients for these procedures. This list includes many, but not all,of the different outcomes from surgery. It should generate both a better understanding of the procedure and should answer any remaining questions that one would have.
ALTERNATIVES
Enhancements of the lips can be done by a variety of synthetic or fat injectable fillers to increase the size of the pink part of the lip. (vermilion) Whether the results achieved by injection techniques is comparable to that of tissue excision and lifting should be thoroughly understood before surgery.
GOALS
The goal of lift lifts and advancements is to shorten the distance between the base of the noses and the upper lip and increase the amount of vermilion show. A lip lift will increase the central lip pout and vermilion show. A lip advancement will increase vermilion throughout the whole lip from one mouth corner to the other. The goal of a corner of the mouth lift is to lift up the sagging mouth corners and create a more horizontal smile or lip line.
LIMITATIONS
There are limits as to how much the lip can be lifted or advanced and how much the corners of the mouth can be changed. The limits to these changes are based on trying to keep the lips looking natural and not overdone and to not making excessive visible scarring.
EXPECTED OUTCOME
Expected outcomes include the following: temporary bruising and swelling around the lips and the corner of the mouth, temporary lip numbness, permanent scars at the junction of vermilion-skin junction (lip lifts and advancements) and away from the corner of the mouth. (corner of mouth lift) All excisional lip procedures may create some temporary stiffness on movement and mouth opening. Healing of the scars and settling any scar irregularities is a process that takes months (6 to 12) to see the final result in many cases.
RISKS
Significant complications from lip surgery are very rare but could include infection. More likely complications could include aesthetic deformities such as asymmetry and irregularities of the vermilion-skin junction (lip lines) asymmetry of lip (vermilion)sizes or mouth corners, suture reactions along the incision lines, and under vs. overcorrection of the desired lip sizes or corner of the mouth changes. Any of these risks may require revisional surgery for improvement.
ADDITIONAL SURGERY
Should additional surgery be required to adjust the shape of the lips or corner of the mouth, this will generate additional costs.