What is a lip lift?
A lip lift is surgery on the philtrum, the strip of skin between the base of the nose and the red of the upper lip. In a young face it measures about 12 to 15 millimeters, short enough that a sliver of the upper teeth shows with the lips parted at rest. With age it lengthens and the lip thins and rolls inward: the red border narrows, the teeth disappear behind it, and the mouth reads as older before the rest of the face does; some people are born with a long philtrum and have the same look at twenty-five.
A lip lift in Beverly Hills at Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery is the subnasal bullhorn lip lift: a strip of skin shaped like a pair of bull's horns is removed in the crease where the nose meets the lip, and the closure lifts the whole upper lip. The philtrum is shorter, the red of the lip turns outward so more of it shows, and a few millimeters of tooth show at rest. Nothing is added: the lip does not get bigger, it gets more visible. It does not treat the lower lip or the lines above the lip.
Who is a good candidate for a lip lift?
The measurement is the test. In a mirror, hold a ruler from the base of the columella, the bridge of skin between the nostrils, to the top of the red lip: above about 15 millimeters, the common rule of thumb, a lip lift has room to work; at 12 or below it usually does not. Then part your lips at rest: if no upper tooth shows, a lift will show a few millimeters of tooth again.
You may be a good candidate if
- A long upper lip, above about 15 millimeters from the base of the nose to the red lip, from age or from birth
- A thin upper lip that has rolled inward, with little or no tooth show at rest
- Filler that makes your upper lip longer or heavier rather than fuller, or that you are tired of repeating
- Good health, an adult face, no nicotine for four weeks before and after surgery, and a wish for shape rather than size
Not yet, or a different plan, if
- A short philtrum, about 12 millimeters or less: no skin to spare, and filler is the better tool
- A gummy smile, or plenty of tooth show already: a lift adds tooth show
- A history of keloids or thick raised scars: the incision sits in the open, at the base of the nose
- Active cold sores, nicotine you cannot stop, or a rhinoplasty planned or just done, which is sequenced with the lift
Nicotine widens the scar, so smokers and vapers stop for four weeks before and after surgery; blood thinners, aspirin, anti-inflammatories and most supplements stop two weeks before (the list is in the pre-op instructions); anyone who gets cold sores takes an antiviral around surgery.
Types of lip lift
Subnasal bullhorn lip lift: the standard operation
The bullhorn is the operation most people mean by a lip lift. The strip of skin removed runs from nostril to nostril along the base of the nose, widest under the columella and tapering at the sides like a pair of horns, so the lift is greatest at the Cupid's bow and fades toward the corners. The Italian lip lift is a gentler version: a small ellipse of skin under each nostril instead of one strip, with no scar under the columella.
Corner lip lift
A corner lip lift raises the outer corners of the mouth, which turn down with age: a small triangle of skin is removed above each corner and the corner is sutured up into it, with the scar at the edge of the red lip. It is done alone, or added to a bullhorn lift, which lifts the middle of the lip more than the sides.
Direct and central lip lifts
A direct lip lift (the gullwing) removes skin along the upper border of the red lip, which defines the lip line but leaves a scar that shows without lipstick; a central lip lift removes skin under the columella only. The pattern is decided on the measurements, not on the name.
How lip lift surgery is performed
Markings and measurements
The markings are drawn with you sitting up: the philtrum measured, the amount of skin to remove decided in millimeters and drawn along the base of the nose, following each nostril and the columella so the scar lies in the crease. It is planned conservatively: skin can be removed again at a revision but never put back.
The incision and the closure
The surgeon removes the marked strip of skin, leaves the muscle of the lip undisturbed, and closes in two layers: deep sutures that carry the tension and hold the lip in its new position, then fine sutures at the skin edge, out at about five to seven days. The whole operation takes about an hour.
Surgery day
A lip lift on its own is usually performed under local anesthesia, with or without sedation, in the practice's office or its QUAD A accredited surgery center on Rodeo Drive, decided at the consultation; sedation or general anesthesia is given by a board-certified anesthesiologist in the surgery center, and general anesthesia is used when it is combined with other facial surgery. You go home the same day.
Performed by our facial plastic surgeon
At Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery the lip lift is performed by our facial plastic surgeon. He is board-certified in facial plastic surgery, has been a colleague of Dr. Cat Begovic for more than a decade, and the two have operated together; the lip lift is on his surgical list, done with a gentle operative style aimed at minimal bruising, and held to the practice's standard: a mouth that still looks like yours.
Lip lift vs lip filler
Filler adds volume; a lip lift changes shape. On a lip that is thin but short, hyaluronic acid facial fillers give fullness for six to twelve months and can be dissolved with an enzyme if the result is wrong. On a lip that is long, filler adds weight to skin that already hangs, so the lip looks heavier and the space under the nose longer; a lip lift shortens that space and turns the lip out, permanently, at the price of a scar at the base of the nose.
Lip lift
- Changes: a shorter philtrum, the lip turned outward, a little tooth show; no volume added
- Lasts: permanently
- Downside: surgery, a scar under the nose, a week of sutures, two weeks of swelling; not reversible
- Suits: a philtrum above about 15 millimeters, a lip that rolls inward, filler that has made the lip longer
- Price: our facial plastic surgeon's fee, $8,500 to $12,500, plus the setting and anesthesia
Lip filler
- Changes: fuller lips, a defined border, softer lip lines; the philtrum unchanged, or visually longer
- Lasts: six to twelve months, then repeated
- Downside: days of swelling and bruising, a lip that can look overdone, a cost repeated every year; dissolvable
- Suits: a short or normal philtrum with a thin lip, a preview before surgery, volume after a lift has healed
- Price: Juvederm or Restylane $1,250 per syringe, full syringes only; the lips usually take one or two
At the practice the two are not rivals: filler in the lips is injected by Dr. Cat, the lip lift is performed by our facial plastic surgeon, and many patients have both, the lift first for shape and a little filler months later for volume. The lip lift vs lip filler post and the Botox vs fillers page take the comparison further.
Combining a lip lift with other procedures
A lip lift is often the last few millimeters of a larger plan. A facelift lifts the cheeks, the jawline and the neck and leaves the upper lip where it was, so a long lip under a lifted face reads older than the rest. Fat transfer to the face restores volume in the cheeks and, in small amounts, the lips, with your own fat. A lip lift and a rhinoplasty share the base of the nose, so their order is set at the consultation, and a lip lift after a rhinoplasty waits until the nose has settled.
Lip lift recovery timeline
Lip lift recovery is short by the standards of facial surgery, and most of it is about protecting one small incision; our facial plastic surgeon gives you his own written instructions.
- The day of surgeryHome the same day with ointment on the incision and ice on the lip, which feels tight and numb rather than painful; Tylenol is usually enough. Sleep with your head raised.
- Days two to threeSwelling peaks, with some bruising above the lip. Keep the incision clean and covered with ointment, eat soft food cut small, and keep the mouth small: no big bites, no wide smiles.
- Five to seven daysThe sutures come out; most patients are back at a desk, with a pink line under the nose.
- Two weeksSwelling has largely settled and the incision has sealed, so makeup can cover it; silicone gel and sun protection start now. Light exercise resumes.
- Weeks three to sixFull exercise. The lip softens, the tightness begins to ease and sensation returns.
- Two to four monthsThe tightness resolves and the lip settles into its final position.
- Six to twelve monthsThe scar fades to a fine pale line in the shadow of the nose. The result is judged at a year.
Lip lift scars
The scar is the honest cost of a lip lift, and where it sits decides whether anyone sees it. In a bullhorn lift the incision lies in the crease where the nose meets the lip, following each nostril and the columella, so the mature scar hides in the shadow of the nose. It is pink and slightly raised for two to three months, fades over six to twelve, and settles at a year, with silicone gel and sun protection from about two weeks. Thick skin, a keloid history and tension on the closure widen it, which is why the deep sutures carry the lift.
Risks and safety
A lip lift is a small operation on the most visible part of the face. Here is what can happen and how the risks are reduced.
What can go wrong
- A visible or widened scar at the base of the nose, raised in patients who scar heavily
- Asymmetry between the two sides of the lip or at the Cupid's bow
- Too much skin removed: a pulled or too-short lip, too much tooth or gum show, or a lip that does not close easily at rest; it cannot be reversed
- Widening of the nostril base, or a notch at the sill of the nostril
- Numbness of the upper lip for weeks to months; infection, bleeding, a wound edge that separates, a cold sore set off by the surgery; a revision
How the risks are reduced
- A surgeon whose practice is facial surgery and who measures rather than guesses, removing a conservative amount of skin
- The incision inside the crease where the nose meets the lip, so it sits in shadow
- A two-layer closure that takes the tension off the skin edge
- Careful selection: no keloid history, antiviral cover for cold sores, no nicotine for four weeks before and after, no lift on a smile that already shows gum
- Silicone gel and sun protection from about two weeks, and follow-up visits through the first months
How much does a lip lift cost in Beverly Hills?
Our facial plastic surgeon's fee for a lip lift is $8,500 to $12,500. That is a surgeon's fee: the operating room or office setting and the anesthesia are quoted with it at the consultation, so your written quote is one figure. A bullhorn lift alone under local anesthesia sits toward the lower end; a corner lip lift, sedation, or a combination with other facial surgery moves it up. A revision of a lip lift done elsewhere is quoted after the examination.
Please do not fall for a cheap lip lift: it is measured in millimeters on the center of the face, its scar is permanent, and skin removed in the wrong amount cannot be put back; revising a pulled lip costs more than the original surgery done well. Insurance does not cover a lip lift.
Consultation fee and financing
A consultation is $500, or $1,500 for a revision consultation, credited in full toward your surgery. The practice partners with Cherry, its primary financing partner, and also accepts CareCredit and Alphaeon Credit; see financing and payment plans.
Your consultation
It starts with a free 15-minute discovery call with our Patient Concierge, who books your consultation with our facial plastic surgeon: in person on Rodeo Drive or, for out-of-town patients, by private video consultation through OnPatient, the HIPAA-secure patient portal. He reviews your history, medications, any earlier surgery on the nose or lip and any filler in the lip, then examines the mouth: the philtrum measured, the tooth show checked at rest and in a smile, the lip in profile and the corners of the mouth. You leave with a written quote and a plain answer to whether a lip lift, filler, or both fits your face.
