Cheiloplasty: What Is It, | Risks, Results, Options and Cost

Introduction

One of the most important parts of the face is the lips since they capture the attention of the eyes by the gestures we make when speaking or eating, due to this, people have wanted to change the shape of their lips for some time now. decades and for that various treatments have been used, all to make the person feel comfortable with their lips.

Cheiloplasty is a surgery that allows the patient to correct the alterations in their lips, whether they are due to congenital or traumatic diseases, complications from previous treatments, or, simply, for aesthetic reasons.

What is cheiloplasty?

Cheiloplasty is a surgical medical procedure that helps to change the shape of the lips, either to repair, increase, reduce or improve their appearance, depending on the needs of the patient.

It is necessary to clarify that although this surgery was created to repair the lips of people with congenital diseases such as cleft lips, or people who suffer malformation in the lip area due to an accident, it is a surgery that can be used for aesthetic either to correct a previous treatment or to increase and reduce the lips, for this reason, it is considered a suitable and safe surgery for patients who have met the requirements of the surgery.

According to Doctor Walter González, a cheiloplasty is recommended for those patients who previously underwent injectables or a lip augmentation operation and due to bad practices or time the lip has changed in appearance, and the patient wants to correct and improve this.

Who can perform this treatment?

Candidates for cheiloplasty are generally those who want to change the appearance of their lips, either because they had a previous treatment that was unsuccessful or simply because they want a lip augmentation or reduction.

Some people with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases may not be suitable for this surgical treatment, especially if their condition causes frequent mouth ulcers. In any case, the patient will undergo the proper medical examinations so that the surgeon approves the procedure, patients who are active smokers will be specially analyzed since smoking is prohibited before and after surgery.

If dates close to surgery, the patient has cold sores, mouth ulcers, or infections around the area of the mouth, the date of surgery may be changed, as the surgeon may ask for the infection to be treated. first and then reschedule the surgical procedure. Likewise, it is necessary that the patient told the doctor about all the conditions that he has suffered in the area of the mouth, to prevent possible complications after the surgery and that it reaches a successful conclusion.

How do I choose a medical professional to have the surgery done?

As in any other surgical procedure, choosing a qualified professional with sufficient experience is very important.

Feel free to ask your doctor about their cheiloplasty experience, even with the presentation of clinical photos of real cases. You can also consult the doctor’s experience at SECURE (Spanish Society of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery).

How is the first consultation?

In the first consultation of the cheiloplasty, the patient will tell the medical professional why he wants to undergo the treatment, and how he would like to see his lips in the future. The medical professional will analyze the bone structure of the face and the possibilities that the patient has in front of the surgery. In this consultation, the medical professional will also tell the patient if a cheiloplasty is the most indicated treatment to achieve the results they want, and if so, they will talk about the surgery process, the postoperative period, and the risks that this entails.

It is important to mention that as it is cosmetic surgery, it is not covered by any Social Security entity unless the surgery must be performed due to a congenital disease of the patient or due to an accident.

What types of cheiloplasty can be performed?

The types of procedures to be used will depend on the results that the patient intends to obtain:

• Augmentation cheiloplasty: As its name says, it refers to lip augmentation, which can be achieved using surgical plastic, temporary or permanent implants, and fatty autograft, better known as lipofilling.
• Reduction cheiloplasty: It reduces the volume of the lips when the patient naturally has too thick lips and wants to reduce the lip volume.
• Secondary cheiloplasty: It refers to the type of reconstructive surgery, when the patient has already undergone some type of treatment, be it injectable or any type of surgery on the lips, and the surgery with the passage of time and the movement of the lips has been changed in such a way that the patient is no longer satisfied with the results, in this case, this treatment is performed where the state of the lips is analyzed and the previous treatment is corrected.

Recommendations to follow before surgery

The recommendations that are given before performing cheiloplasty surgery are the following, although they may vary depending on the doctor and the clinic where the surgical procedure is performed, so the medical-surgeon team may change some of them and make an appropriate manual for each type of patient according to their lifestyle and needs.

• You fast 6 hours before surgery.
• The patient will be advised not to consume medications that can alter blood clotting.
• It is recommended not to smoke a week before surgery as this affects the healing process of the surgical process.

How it is performed?

The processes of the lip surgery technique depend on the type of operation that is performed, whether it is augmentation, reduction, or a secondary cheiloplasty. Next, and according to the American Society for Plastic Surgery, we will discuss the general procedure used to bring lip plastic surgery to term.

• Augmentation cheiloplasty: This procedure is performed under local anesthesia, and if the lip surgery is with an implant, a tunnel is created in the lips and the implants are inserted. The exit and entry points of the tunnel are closed with absorbable points that will be imperceptible with time, so the scar will be minimal.
• Reduction cheiloplasty: Lip reduction consists of the removal of excess lip tissue to reduce the total volume and is performed by injecting a local anesthetic into the mouth, the amount that is removed is measured and must maintain the balance of the rest of the face. The factors that are considered to perform the reduction are the total size of the face, the shape, and the symmetry. It is also important to consider the ethnicity of the patient. The sutures are made inside the mouth, so the scar will not be visible.
• Secondary cheiloplasty: It is used to correct a previous procedure on the lips, either reduction or augmentation, which for different reasons no longer has a satisfactory effect on the patient. Here the incision will be made depending on the needs of the patient so there may or may not be a scar, although if it remains, it will be very small, from this the surgeon will proceed to work according to the objective that has been agreed with the patient. . This surgery also uses local anesthesia and should not last more than an hour.

How is the postoperative?

The postoperative period of a cheiloplasty is not long, but it is a bit annoying in principle and of care since the lips move a lot when gesturing, talking, and eating. Normally edema will appear that will disappear after 4 to 5 days and, according to the medical professional, he will recommend putting cold compresses to accelerate the reduction and healing, but this depends on each patient and the healing capacity they have on their own.

It is recommended to be careful when eating and talking, in addition to recommending the intake of a soft diet. The stitches will be removed 7 to 10 days after surgery and the patient can return to normal activity after a week, although the redness in the area may last a little longer until the scar heals and becomes almost imperceptible.

Results

After surgery, patients will experience edema, bruising and vague discomfort in the treated area that can benefit from the use of analgesics.

The sutures will be removed after a week, leaving a scar at the incision site that will soften until it becomes almost imperceptible. The swelling and bruising will gradually decrease until they disappear in 2 or more weeks. The final result of cheiloplasty can be seen two months after surgery.

Contraindications or side effects

The lips are among the most sensitive parts of your body, so it is important to work with an experienced surgeon to minimize the risk of side effects. The normal effects of the surgery, within the first days after the procedure are redness, swelling, pain, and some bruising may also appear. Less frequently, and if so, you should assist the medical professional who treated you, cheiloplasty can cause:

• Infection
• Scars
• Severe swelling
• Bleeding

Despite the risk of side effects, lip reduction is considered a safe procedure, and in case of side effects, the doctor will always be able to treat and reverse them.

Frequent questions

• Are the results of cheiloplasty permanent? There are two options, and it is decided to make the one that the patient wants and is more suitable for their needs.
• Can I get a lip reduction if I have naturally thick lips because of my race? Of course, it will be necessary to make a previous assessment and analyze the bone structure of the patient’s face to achieve symmetry. Professionals from the PILO Aesthetic Medical Center
• If I already used hyaluronic acid, can I have a cheiloplasty now? Yes, but an analysis of the patient’s smile is necessary to determine the proportion that should be operated on and how it can be done to achieve a natural result.
• Can the silicone be removed from the lips with cheiloplasty? In principle, yes, but the total elimination of the silicone is not guaranteed, for this reason, the state of the silicone and the patient’s lips must be assessed so that a safe procedure for the health of the person can be performed.
  
• about two years ago I had biopolymers removed from my upper lip and I have some asymmetries. I wanted to know if hyaluronic acid can be used to correct them and must assess whether the deformity that remains is better to solve through a small surgery to regularize it or infiltrating hyaluronic. It must be that if most of the biopolymers have been removed, it is possible to do so, but there is always a greater risk of an inflammatory reaction or infection in patients who have infiltrated non-resorbable materials.