Lip Lift
Upper lip shortening, often referred to as a lip lift, can improve the overall facial appearance by making the mouth look more youthful, pouty, and voluminous. Over time, the loosening of the underlying structures of the face can cause the upper lip to lengthen, or droop and shift downward. This, in conjunction with a decrease in lip volume, also causes reduced exposure of the upper teeth—the hallmark of a youthful smile. An increasingly popular facial cosmetic surgery procedure, the lip lift decreases the distance between the nose and the upper lip to reverse these and other common signs of aging. Upper lip shortening is also often sought by younger patients who desire fuller, better-defined lips.
Our Las Vegas Lip Lift Specialists, Board Certified Plastic Surgeons Dr. W. Tracy Hankins and Dr. Samuel M. Sohn combine technical expertise with artistic sensibility to achieve stunning results. Upper lip shortening surgery at our Las Vegas and Henderson offices can be customized to help you meet your unique cosmetic goals, helping you achieve the youthful and natural-looking smile you desire.
Benefits of Upper Lip Shortening
The lips play a strong role in overall facial appearance and expression. This means that the subtle changes made through upper lip shortening often have a dramatic impact on the way a person looks, offering substantial benefits including:
- More voluptuous lips
- Rejuvenation of the lips and lower face
- Increased show of the upper teeth
- Improved definition of the Cupid’s bow
- Reduced lip wrinkles
- Enhanced pout through lip eversion (turning the upper lip up and out)
- Improved lip volume
- Reduced need for lip fillers
A lip lift can reverse many common signs of aging by bringing the lips to a higher position on the face, increasing tooth show, and plumping and expanding the vermilion (the red or pink area of the lip). For our patients who desire comprehensive facial rejuvenation, our plastic surgeons often perform lip shortening in conjunction with a facelift.1
Upper Lip Shortening Procedure
During upper lip shortening, the top lip is lifted into a higher position on the face through the removal of some of the skin between the nose and the colored portion of the upper lip. By employing what is known as a bullhorn lip lift incision, our Las Vegas and Henderson plastic surgeons are able to achieve superior results while hiding any scars in the natural crease below the nose.2
The lip lift procedure is performed under local anesthesia and takes less than an hour. Depending on your unique facial features and preferences, your plastic surgeon can customize the procedure to achieve your aesthetic goals by enhancing the contours of your Cupid’s bow, increasing the upward turn and/or outward projection of your lips, and even minimizing any asymmetries in addition to shortening the upper lip.
Lip Lift Recovery
After lip lift surgery, you will be encouraged to rest, restrict physical activity, and keep chewing to a minimum by eating mostly soft foods for the first week. You will experience some discomfort and moderate swelling, which will gradually subside and can be managed with pain medication and cold compresses.
Roughly five days after your upper lip shortening procedure, you will return to our offices to have your sutures removed and your healing evaluated. At this time, your plastic surgeon will give you more detailed instructions about resuming exercise.
Planning Your Lip Lift Procedure*
Average Procedure Time:
1 hour
Average Recovery Time:
1 week
Post-Op Consultation:
8 weeks
*Your treatment plan at Hankins & Sohn Plastic Surgery Associates will be customized to meet your needs and your individual experience will vary depending on a number of factors. All information provided on this page is an estimate of typical time and cost and does not represent an offer or guarantee of pricing or availability. Please schedule a consultation appointment to discuss which options may apply to you.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lip Lift Surgery
Each member of our medical team strives to help our patients make fully-educated decisions about their plastic surgery options so that they can proceed with confidence. To this end, our surgeons have provided the following answers to the questions we receive most frequently about upper lip shortening. If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
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How is upper lip shortening different from lip augmentation?
Many patients who come to our Las Vegas plastic surgeons seeking lip augmentation find that upper lip shortening will more effectively help them achieve their goals. Lip augmentation using fillers, implants, or fat transfer can help some patients achieve more voluptuous lips. However, the results may not be permanent and lip augmentation does not alter the placement or positioning of the lips. Upper lip lift surgery is often the most effective option for patients who wish to make their lips appear permanently more youthful and fuller.3
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How much does lip lift surgery cost?
Each patient is unique, so it is only possible to provide estimated costs before fully evaluating patients and customizing a treatment plan to meet their particular goals. At the end of your consultation with our plastic surgeons, you will be given a comprehensive quote detailing the cost of your lip lift.
Upper lip shortening is considered to be an elective procedure, and as such is typically not covered by medical insurance. We are pleased to offer a range of financing options designed to make our services accessible to patients who travel to Las Vegas specifically to achieve the stunning transformations our team is known for.
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Who is a candidate for upper lip shortening?
If you desire a more youthful and voluptuous smile, you might be a good candidate for a lip lift procedure with our Las Vegas plastic surgeons. Ideal candidates for upper lip shortening are able to abstain from smoking both before and after their surgery, are in good overall health, and have realistic expectations about what plastic surgery can achieve.
To learn more about the upper lip shortening procedure or to schedule your lip lift consultation with our surgeons, please contact us at (702) 948-7595.
1 Austin, H. The Lip Lift. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Volume 77, Issue 6, June 1986, pages 990-994. Available: https://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/Citation/1986/06000/The_Lip_Lift.24.aspx. Accessed April 23, 2020.
2 Spiegel JH. The Modified Bullhorn Approach for the Lip-lift. JAMA Facial Plast Surg. 2019;21(1):69–70. doi:10.1001/jamafacial.2018.0847. Accessed April 22, 2020.
3 Holden PK, Sufyan AS, Perkins SW. Long-term Analysis of Surgical Correction of the Senile Upper Lip. Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2011;13(5):332–336. doi:10.1001/archfacial.2011.55. Accessed June 23, 2020.
This content has either been authored or reviewed and approved by the doctors at Hankins & Sohn Plastic Surgery Associates.