I decided to turn to a permanent surgical option:a lip lift.
After about five minutes, Dr. Taglienti had a verdict: I was.
My surgery was scheduled for within two weeks.
Bella Geraci / Courtesy of Subject
What is a lip lift?
He attributes the uptick in part to, you guessed it, social media.
There are four basic types of lip lifts, Dr. Taglienti explains, whatever a patients motivation may be.
Bella Geraci / Courtesy of Subject
The removed tissue flares at certain points along the nostrils, creating a more natural look.
Who is a good candidate for a lip lift?
Its approximately 11-13 mm for females and 13-15 mm for males, says Dr. Taglienti.
Before lip lift surgery
Those patients are usually better served by Botox or lip fillers.
Says Dr. Leipziger, They may produce scars that stay pink longer, requiring further scar care.
Its really up to the discretion of the surgeon.
Before lip lift surgery
Before lip lift surgery
What happens during a lip lift procedure?
I arrived at the surgery center early, anxious, and with all my prescriptions in hand.
Though I knew what to expect, I had never had surgery before.
30 minutes after lip lift surgery
Dr. Taglienti then mapped out on my face, in purple ink, where the incisions would be made.
Within a few minutes, Dr. Taglienti injected a local anesthetic below my nose and above my lip.
This continued for about 45 minutes.
Bandaged and ready to go home, about an hour after surgery
Thank you, Valium.
The area was then cleansed, a topical ointment placed over the incision, and a dressing applied.
I left the surgery center looking forward to a quick recovery.
4 days post-op
(The full course of antibiotics lasted for four days.)
The most uncomfortable period of the recovery process was directly after the surgery until the following afternoon.
Also, my lips swelled rather dramatically in the hours following the procedure.
Right after the stitches were removed on day 5
As days passed, it became easier to manage the incision, and the swelling began to subside.
There was still some rawness to the area, though.
What are the risks involved in getting a lip lift?
3 weeks post-surgery
Some potential complications of the lip lift procedure could be scarring and upper lip asymmetry, says Dr. Leipziger.
It is extremely important to perform the procedure as symmetrically as possible to avoid lip distortion.
To minimize scarring, Dr. Taglienti says, you absolutely must follow your surgeons post-procedure instructions.
Later in the healing process, lasers can be used to fade scars further, if necessary.
And he took a conservative approach, because once you remove skin, there is no placing it back.
With any surgical procedure, its certainly better to be underdone than overdone.
With any surgical procedure, its better to be underdone than overdone.
Also, its worth noting that no plastic surgery procedure can stop the aging process.
3 weeks post-surgery
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