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Common complaints related to the lip include lips that are too fat, too short, too thin, too long, and too wrinkled. The latter three become more prevalent with age, sun exposure, and cigarette smoking.
Lip reduction is a procedure to reduce a prominent or protruding lip. With local anesthesia, intraoral mucosa is removed which shortens and debulks the lip.
Lip augmentation includes injectable collagen (Zyplast®), fat, or other fillers (i.e. Restylane®, Juvederm®), surgical placement of permanent or semipermanent implant material (Goretex®, Softform®, Medpor®, Alloderm®), or surgical enhancement including lip advancement and lip lift.
In lip advancement, a small strip of skin is removed where the lip meets skin. When this wound is closed, it gently everts the mucosa, providing a shorter, fuller appearing lip.
In a lip lift, a small ellipse of skin is removed from the upper lip at the junction with the nose and as the wound is closed, it lifts the lip, shortening it.
The corner of the mouth lift is a direct excision of skin above the commissure.
Plumping of the lip can also be surgically performed without implants by advancing intraoral tissue.
All of the descriptions for the various procedures are condensed from the text of the upcoming textbook written by Dr. Christopher Park and Dr. Malcolm Marks and are copyrighted, "The Artistry of Plastic Surgery: Exploring the Experience” . |
