THIN LIPS SINK SELF-ESTEEM
Despite all of the great advances in facelift surgery, eyelid rejuvenation, and surgery to improve the contour of the neck, one area in the face that has remained a problem for cosmetic plastic surgeons has been the upper and lower lips and the surrounding skin. Many changes occur in the lips with time, and to improve the appearance of the checks and forehead, eyelids, and neck without including the area around the mouth is an incomplete success. The aging lips unmask the "secret" that the "natural" improvements achieved in the rest of the face were actually the result of surgery: The lips do not match the rest of the face.
The changes that occur in this area include wrinkle lines, into which lipstick may "bleed" thinning of the red lip vermilion and elongation of the upper lip skin so that the teeth are completely covered. Even younger people who have not yet faced he ravages of time may have lips that are not full enough or shapely enough. They resort to "fillers" which include collagen, fat, or muscle fascia, all of which tend to disappear in a relatively short period of time. Alternatives include various implants, most of which are a type of plastic and may result in a very stiff, immobile, numb, and misshapen lip contour that can be difficult to correct. While I have used all of these materials in the past, I always said that fillers and implants either disappear too quickly, or you wish they would disappear.
For both groups of patients, the goal is a lip that is more shapely, fuller, and yet natural in appearance, motion, and probably most important, feeling. The lip has an extremely important role in our interaction with others and anything that interferes with the motion and feeling of the lip is certainly not worth a superficial improvement in appearance. Until recently, there was no procedure or technique that answered the two basic requirements for lip improvement; to improve the appearance and appeal of the lips while preserving the normal, subtle, supple motion and feeling of the lips.
About six years ago, based on my earlier work with lip reconstruction, including children with cleft lip, and after studying the anatomy of the problems in lips due to aging or other reasons, I developed two procedures for lip enhancement and rejuvenation, which I call the lip lift and the lip tuck.
The lip lift is a procedure to shorten the skin of the upper lip for people who have an unattractive balance between the upper and lower lip areas due either to aging changes, or familial tendencies. As the lip skin elongates with age, patients develop a very undesirable creasing across the upper lip area just below the nose with smiling. This is the first procedure that I know of that can treat this problem, and shorten the skin length so that it has a more aesthetic balance and youthful appearance. The surgery is done at the base of the nose in the natural crease, and the scar is virtually invisible.
The other procedure is the lip tuck which is done at the junction between the red vermilion and the skin of the upper lip at a place where I've discovered that the scar is excellent and usually invisible. A strip of skin can be removed, eliminating most of the deep wrinkle lines in people who have that problem. A "tuck" can be taken in the underlying muscle to give a fuller upper lip, while at the same time rolling the red vermillion outward to give a slightly bigger, and more aesthetic upper lip shape and contour. In those people lacking much of a shape to the upper lip --
thc "Cupid's bow" -- this can be improved with the surgery, and there are numerous possible applications. In older people who virtually lack any red vermillion at all, it can provide a natural modest vermilion so that lipstick can once again be worn. In younger people who lack lip fullness and shape, it can enhance the lip and improve its shape much better than collagen or any other filler or implant ever could. The surgery uses your own tissues so there is no foreign material, and nothing to dissolve. The effect is long-lasting, since I now have patients who are six or seven years post-op, and they have maintained the shape and fullness of their lip. I have done this procedure in people of all ages. both men and women, and the results have been extraordinary.
Both the lip lift and the lip tuck can be done under a local anesthesia with very little pain involved, using a gel anesthetic. Mild sedation can be used if desired, but general anesthesia is never necessary. I have performed this surgery on dozens of patients, without a single complication. I've even salvaged some patients who were "victims" of implants done by other surgeons that had left them with stiff, misshapen lips.
In this area of "unsolved" aesthetic problems, I think a real solution has been found and I'm really excited about the dramatic results that can be obtained with this surgery. A lower lip tuck can also be done at the same time, to enhance and enlarge the lower lip with similar excellent results. For those of you tired of painful, expensive and frequent collagen or fat injections, and those who have undesirable shape and stiffness following implants in their lips,
this is an alternative to seriously consider, and I would be happy to show you numerous results of the surgery in all kinds of situations. Thin, misshapen lips no longer have to sink your self-esteem, and you can have more beautiful lips to enhance your beautiful smile, reflecting your lifted self-confidence.
Be sure to visit Dr. Michael McGuire's site for before and after cosmetic surgery pictures at: http://www.michaelmcguiremd.com/
Despite all of the great advances in facelift surgery, eyelid rejuvenation, and surgery to improve the contour of the neck, one area in the face that has remained a problem for cosmetic plastic surgeons has been the upper and lower lips and the surrounding skin. Many changes occur in the lips with time, and to improve the appearance of the checks and forehead, eyelids, and neck without including the area around the mouth is an incomplete success. The aging lips unmask the "secret" that the "natural" improvements achieved in the rest of the face were actually the result of surgery: The lips do not match the rest of the face.
The changes that occur in this area include wrinkle lines, into which lipstick may "bleed" thinning of the red lip vermilion and elongation of the upper lip skin so that the teeth are completely covered. Even younger people who have not yet faced he ravages of time may have lips that are not full enough or shapely enough. They resort to "fillers" which include collagen, fat, or muscle fascia, all of which tend to disappear in a relatively short period of time. Alternatives include various implants, most of which are a type of plastic and may result in a very stiff, immobile, numb, and misshapen lip contour that can be difficult to correct. While I have used all of these materials in the past, I always said that fillers and implants either disappear too quickly, or you wish they would disappear.
For both groups of patients, the goal is a lip that is more shapely, fuller, and yet natural in appearance, motion, and probably most important, feeling. The lip has an extremely important role in our interaction with others and anything that interferes with the motion and feeling of the lip is certainly not worth a superficial improvement in appearance. Until recently, there was no procedure or technique that answered the two basic requirements for lip improvement; to improve the appearance and appeal of the lips while preserving the normal, subtle, supple motion and feeling of the lips.
About six years ago, based on my earlier work with lip reconstruction, including children with cleft lip, and after studying the anatomy of the problems in lips due to aging or other reasons, I developed two procedures for lip enhancement and rejuvenation, which I call the lip lift and the lip tuck.
The lip lift is a procedure to shorten the skin of the upper lip for people who have an unattractive balance between the upper and lower lip areas due either to aging changes, or familial tendencies. As the lip skin elongates with age, patients develop a very undesirable creasing across the upper lip area just below the nose with smiling. This is the first procedure that I know of that can treat this problem, and shorten the skin length so that it has a more aesthetic balance and youthful appearance. The surgery is done at the base of the nose in the natural crease, and the scar is virtually invisible.
The other procedure is the lip tuck which is done at the junction between the red vermilion and the skin of the upper lip at a place where I've discovered that the scar is excellent and usually invisible. A strip of skin can be removed, eliminating most of the deep wrinkle lines in people who have that problem. A "tuck" can be taken in the underlying muscle to give a fuller upper lip, while at the same time rolling the red vermillion outward to give a slightly bigger, and more aesthetic upper lip shape and contour. In those people lacking much of a shape to the upper lip --
thc "Cupid's bow" -- this can be improved with the surgery, and there are numerous possible applications. In older people who virtually lack any red vermillion at all, it can provide a natural modest vermilion so that lipstick can once again be worn. In younger people who lack lip fullness and shape, it can enhance the lip and improve its shape much better than collagen or any other filler or implant ever could. The surgery uses your own tissues so there is no foreign material, and nothing to dissolve. The effect is long-lasting, since I now have patients who are six or seven years post-op, and they have maintained the shape and fullness of their lip. I have done this procedure in people of all ages. both men and women, and the results have been extraordinary.
Both the lip lift and the lip tuck can be done under a local anesthesia with very little pain involved, using a gel anesthetic. Mild sedation can be used if desired, but general anesthesia is never necessary. I have performed this surgery on dozens of patients, without a single complication. I've even salvaged some patients who were "victims" of implants done by other surgeons that had left them with stiff, misshapen lips.
In this area of "unsolved" aesthetic problems, I think a real solution has been found and I'm really excited about the dramatic results that can be obtained with this surgery. A lower lip tuck can also be done at the same time, to enhance and enlarge the lower lip with similar excellent results. For those of you tired of painful, expensive and frequent collagen or fat injections, and those who have undesirable shape and stiffness following implants in their lips,
this is an alternative to seriously consider, and I would be happy to show you numerous results of the surgery in all kinds of situations. Thin, misshapen lips no longer have to sink your self-esteem, and you can have more beautiful lips to enhance your beautiful smile, reflecting your lifted self-confidence.
Be sure to visit Dr. Michael McGuire's site for before and after cosmetic surgery pictures at: http://www.michaelmcguiremd.com/
posted by Dr. Michael McGuire at
9:17 AM
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