Your mouth is one of the most expressive parts of your face, conveying emotions as you speak and providing non-verbal cues while you listen or otherwise engage with others. With so much attention drawn to the mouth, it’s understandable that some people are self-conscious about the appearance of their lips. If the corners of your mouth turn downward, it can age your face or create an unfriendly expression. While cosmetic fillers enhance the lips by adding volume, a corner lip lift is often a more appropriate procedure for correcting a downturned upper lip and restoring the youthful softness of your mouth.
What is a corner lip lift?
As we age, the upper lip elongates and forces the corners of the lips downward, which can make you appear angry, sad or worried even if you’re happy. A corner lip lift is a relatively simple cosmetic procedure that lifts the corners of the mouth for a more youthful appearance and happier expression. Although it’s simple, the change in appearance is significant.
What are the benefits of a corner lip lift?
A corner lip lift improves the appearance of the mouth by creating a more defined lip shape, offering a boost of confidence and self-esteem. Other benefits of a corner lip lift include:
- Enhances balance, shape, and proportion of lips
- Minimizes the appearance of a downturned mouth
- Procedure is performed in under two hours
- Permanent results and no need for re-application, as with dermal fillers
- Natural-looking results
- Younger-looking lips
- Overall pleasing appearance
- A great lip-enhancement solution for those unable to get dermal fillers due to allergic reactions or other reasons
The corner lip lift can also be done in combination with dermal fillers for more dramatic results. To determine whether a corner lip lift is right for you, schedule a consultation with Dr. Laverson.
What happens during the lip lift procedure?
The corner lip lift procedure typically takes about 90 minutes to complete, and while some patients request sedation, most only require local anesthesia at the surgical site to remain comfortable. During the procedure, Dr. Laverson removes a thin triangle of skin near the corners of the mouth, reversing the elongated downturn and causing a slight lift so that the lip sits a few millimeters higher. Once the skin is removed, the surgeon will suture the incision line so that it coincides with the “vermillion border,” which is where the facial skin meets the flesh of the lip. By planning the incision this way, the scar from the surgery will be virtually unnoticeable, even from a close distance.