Barry Eppley

Turn That Frown Into A Smile With A Little Plastic Surgery

Downturning of the corners of the mouth occurs with facial aging in many women. This creates a sad, mad, or unhappy appearance to the mouth area. Injectable fillers treatments provide temporary improvement only. A small plastic surgery procedure, a corner of the mouth lift, can be done in the office to provide long-term correction of this aesthetic mouth problem.

As the mouth ages, the corners will frequently turn down causing a sad or unhappy look. When combined with thinning lips and the development of upper lip lines, the mouth area can really look old.

The use of any of the injectable fillers can be done to not only increase the size of the lips and puff out some of the fine wrinkles, but can be used to temporarily lift the corners of the mouth as well. While injectable filler treatments are not permanent, they are quick and easy to do.

The corner of the mouth lift is a surgical option that has lasting effects. It is an old procedure that has been around for many decades. The corner of the mouth lift can be performed in the office under local anesthesia as a stand alone procedure or as part of any number of other facial rejuvenation procedures such as lip injections, lip wrinkle reduction by laser resurfacing or as part of a larger facelift operation. By taking a small triangle of skin from just above the drooping mouth corner, the downhanging mouth corner can be turned up quickly and easily. It is a very powerful procedure for such a small removal of skin and one must be careful not to overdo it by raising the corner of the mouth too far up and having too long of a scar. While all surgical procedure create scars, the corner of the mouth lift scar is very small and inconspicuously placed.

The key to a good corner of the mouth lift result is making the mouth corner level, and not more, and keeping the scar small that does not wander far from the corner of the mouth. Many facelift patients mistakenly think that the facelift will pull up the corner which is a misunderstanding. That is why some facelift patients with 'frowns' needs a concurrent corner of the mouth lift procedure.

I have found this procedure to be well accepted and most patients are surprised when I mention it as they have never heard of it. As an in-office procedure, it works well with lip injections and lip lifts and advancements. Grooves that extend from the downturned corners of the mouth, otherwise known as 'marionette lines', will also need treated by some of filling material whether it be fat, injectable fillers, or implants. For those patients with chronic irritation due to salivary overflow (a condition known as angular cheilitis), a corner of the mouth may even be curative as it rearranges the angulation of the 'spout' and creating a more competent lip dam effect.

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