Lip surgery can be used to treat both age-related changes and congenital anomalies. As you age, the skin loses elasticity, while the muscles lose tone and stretch, and fatty tissues in the face lose volume. These natural changes mean that lines, folds and wrinkles gradually become visible, which can be very noticeable around the mouth and lips. This can result in you feeling uncomfortable about your appearance. Some people are unhappy with the natural shape of their lips, which they feel are too thin, aren’t symmetrical or have an under-developed cupids bow. Some issues can be solved with lip fillers or other lip injections, while surgery is needed in other cases.
If you’d like to see “Before & After” photos of Akademikliniken patients who have undergone lip surgery procedures, click on the Before & After tab above.
Reasons For Lip Surgery
Many patients consider lip surgery to address the changes that can occur to the mouth area due to aging. Patients may observe wrinkles forming on the upper lip (commonly called “smokers lines” or “barcode lines”), a downward-turned mouth or a sunken upper lip. Certain age-related changes can be exacerbated by smoking or by loss of teeth. Surgery to correct downward turned corners of the mouth is performed through small incisions to remove skin and lift the corners of the mouth upward. A sunken upper lip can be corrected with a so-called lip lift, when you make a cut at the nasal edge and lift the upper lip. In other cases patients opt for lip surgery because they have thin lips, a lack of uniformity in their lips or an under-developed cupids bow.
The Surgery
Lip surgery may encompass lip enlargement or augmentation (cheiloplasty), lip filling, lip implants, fat grafting or lip reduction.
Lip surgery is often combined with other treatments in order to achieve the optimum result. Dermal fillers, Fraxel laser treatment or chemical peels may be performed along with lip surgery in order to achieve the optimum result. If you have additional wrinkles in the forehead area, it might also be effective to combine your treatment with botox injections. Your surgeon will discuss the options with you at your consultation and together you will decide on the best approach.
On the day of your procedure, you will arrive at the hospital fasting. Before the surgery you will meet with your surgeon again and he will mark the surgical site. Lip surgery is normally done as a day case in hospital, in local anaesthetic with or with out light general anaesthetic. Depending on the procedure, the incision is made inside the lip, in the lip margins or in the corners of the mouth. Following the surgery you will be closely monitored while you begin your recovery and the effects of the anaesthetic wear off.
After Surgery
Most of our patients who undergo lip surgery will go home the same day, but while they recover in hospital in the hours following their procedure, they are taken care of by professionals with extensive experience of this surgical procedure. On discharge you will have been given an appointment for your first post-operative visit to The Aesthetic Institute, but patients are welcome to contact us before that if they have any concerns.
Discomfort, swelling and bruising are to be expected after lip surgery, but are generally short lived and not usually severe. You may experience a feeling of swelling, stiffness, tension and soreness. Post-operative sutures, dressings and recovery periods will vary depending on the procedure and the individual patient. After surgery, any sutures and dressings are removed at The Aesthetic Institute within a week. Until then you should remain calm and well rested. Most patients return to normal activity and exercise after three weeks. The scars after lip surgery are usually quite subtle, or can easily be disguised with make-up. However, with any external incisions it is advisable to avoid sunbathing for six months.
What does it cost?
The overall cost of a lipsurgery depends on a number of factors including how extensive the surgery will be, and if the procedure is part of a combination procedure. You can read more about our prices for different procedures and treatments here.
If you have any questions about lip surgery which are not addressed here, or if you would like to book a consultation with the Consultant Plastic Surgeon to discuss lip surgery, please call 01 491 5738, email info@aestheticinstitute.ie or complete our Enquiry Form.