Upper Lip Lift vs. Lip Fillers: A Look at Benefits and Disadvantages

An upper lip lift is a cosmetic surgical procedure that reshapes your upper lip to provide it with a fuller, more pleasing appearance. However, this procedure is much more invasive than the more popular lip fillers. Lip fillers provide similar results to a lip lift and the procedure is often preferred by many over a lip lift.

Aging and the Upper Lip

As you age, your facial bones change and retract. The skin on your face starts to sag. The upper lip sags and the pink area diminishes or becomes virtually nonexistent. Your teeth might become more obscure even when smiling. The lips of a younger person tend to have a fuller appearance. An upper lip lift creates a more youthful appearance and a more revealing, brighter smile.

Are Lip Fillers Better Than Lip Lifts?

There is no answer to if lip fillers are better than lip lifts as each brings different advantages and disadvantages to the table.

About Lip Fillers

If done correctly, lip fillers provide more natural-looking results that enhance the shape a volume of the lips without the need for surgery.

Fillers are injected into the deep layers of the skin in order to restore volume loss, replenish fulness, and correct lip asymmetry. This procedure no anesthesia and no downtime. The only real side effect people see is some minor bruising and swelling. However, these side effects go away fairly quickly – sometimes within a few hours.

The results are not permanent but can last for up to a year. For some, this is a benefit because if they do not like the look, the filler will dissolve over time without the need to surgical intervention.

In most cases, the procedure also can be performed in less than an hour and you can hop in the car to drive home right after.

Click below to learn more about lip fillers at Vargas Face and Skin Center.

About Lip Lifts

Lip lifts are permanent and do require one or more surgical incisions. The goal of a lip lift is to shorten the skin above the lip to achieve the look of more volume. The procedure takes less than an hour, but many choose lip fillers instead to achieve a similar look with no downtime.

Stitches are used and will be in the face for around a week – but the healing process is different for everyone but typically around 2 weeks of downtime is necessary for a full recovery.

There is always heightened risk involved when getting a surgical procedure – even one that seems as unassuming as a lip lift. Some may find that they need multiple procedures to correct mistakes and may still not end up with the result they want.