Our London clinic can offer you the ‘bullhorn lift’, also known as the subnasal lip lift, which is a surgical alternative to lip augmentation with dermal fillers. To achieve the same effect with dermal fillers often leads to over-filling the lips, whereas the bullhorn lift delivers more natural-looking, permanent results.
Your surgeon will make a very fine incision at the base of the nose, curving around the nostrils in the shape of a bull’s horn which gives the procedure its name. By removing and lifting a small amount of tissue under the nose, the lips are lifted and slightly turned out, appearing more youthful and fuller.
The bullhorn lift is an excellent procedure for those that have a too long philtrum, the area between the bottom of the nose and the edge of the lip. This may have always been a concern, but it can also become more noticeable over time as our facial tissues begin to sag. The surgical lip lift is also a very effective procedure if the vermillion border itself is very flat or the upper lip appears thinner than is desired. If you would like to talk to us about this procedure, call our London clinic today.
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Our Lip Lift Recovery Guide
Click here to go to the Karidis Clinic guide to your lip lift recovery including the expected timeline, the questions we always get asked, and tips from Stevie, our highly experienced surgical nurse.
FAQs
Achieving the right balance to the facial features is an essential component in natural beauty. The space between the nose and mouth is known as the philtrum, and the ideal length in females is considered to be 11-13mm and 2mm longer for men. This often becomes wider as we get older and our skin and muscles lose their elasticity.
The Bull Horn Lift, or Lip Lift, uniquely addresses this concern by removing a small amount of tissue under the base of the nose, lifting the lips. The upper lip slightly tilts out so it can also improve a flat or sunken vermillion border or a thin upper lip, as it looks plumper and more youthful.
If you are fit and well, but concerned about the appearance of your upper lip, a Bull Horn Lift could be the solution.
Lip enhancement with dermal fillers has become a popular aesthetic treatment in recent years. There are some drawbacks though; results do not tend to last as long as dermal fillers used elsewhere in the face and results are very practitioner dependent. There are also some potential risks, such as lumps forming or asymmetry.
A Bull Horn Lift or surgical lip lift can produce permanent results and the scar is usually well-hidden at the base of the nose and is not noticeable when healed. It is very effective at reducing the distance between the nose and lips without over-filling the lips. Dermal fillers can only improve vertical lip height by increasing the projection of the lips at the same time, often resulting in the dreaded duck lips or trout pout effect.
A Bull Horn Lift is performed using local anaesthetic as a day case procedure. The skin is cleansed, and the area carefully marked as part of Mr Ho-Asjoe’s pre-operative planning. Injections of local anaesthetic are made to numb the area and then a very fine incision is made around the nostrils and the base of the columella. Skin is then removed to shorten the length between the nose and lip and the incision is then closed.
The scar is often the most critical consideration as it is not hidden inside the nostrils but is made around the base of the nose. However, the scar is usually very well hidden in the shadow of the nose and not noticeable when healed.
