Lip Reduction

The surgical reduction of fat or thick lips in size is known as lip reduction. The surgery is performed to remove excess tissue of large lips along the upper and lower edges. The removal of excess lip tissues beautifies the lips with a nice outline. The thin lips with delicate outline add to the overall beauty of the face.

The Surgical Procedure

Lip reduction is a minor surgery. First of all, monitoring pads will be attached to you if you fall sedated. The surgical team will observe your vital statistics before, after and during executions of the operation. After you have been taken to the operation room, the monitoring pads will be connected to electrodes. You will be rendered unconscious with an anesthesia during the period of the operation.

The application of an oral sedative such as Valium involves less risks of anesthesia. The surgeon can insert a saline drip in order to keep you in a hydrated state. A saline drip is a vascular doorway to give you anesthesia and antibiotics. The saline drip is inserted near the elbow or in any of hands. However, that depends on the part of the body where veins are thick. The surgeon will inject a needle into the vein and pull it out. This way, your vein will be left with a small plastic tube. This tube is called catheter.

You will be injected between the gums and the lip, deep inside the chin just before undergoing the surgery. Then, a scrub of betadine is applied on your face to remove bacteria like Staph. An incision is made along the length of the lip inside the mouth to remove a layer of skin from both lips. Then, the surgeon performs an instrument and sponge count. The incision is closed with a non-dissolvable or dissolvable sort of suture. A piece of antibiotic-soaked gauze is placed between the gums and lips to prevent bacterial attack on the place of incision.

After the surgery, some medications are prescribed to ease the discomfort and pain at the spot of incision. It takes about fifteen to thirty minutes to perform the surgical procedure of lip reduction. In case of patients with complications the duration of the operation goes up to two hours.

Risks And Complications

It is rare that a surgery entails neither risk nor complications. Generally, persons who undergo the surgical procedure of lip reduction are likely to develop some complications that include the following:

Risks of anesthesia
Hematoma
Seroma
Infection
Feeling of numbness
Asymmetry
Scar tissue
Lumps (rare).

The Recovery Procedure

Right after the operation for seven to fourteen days you should use two pillows in order to keep your head at an elevated place from the bed while lying back. When you come out of the spell of anesthesia sometime after the operation, you will see your face swollen. But the swelling will dispel with the passage of time.

You may experience discomfort due to pain between the gums and the lips for a few weeks. If you have undergone the surgery through an intraoral incision you should restrict the movement of your lips, teeth and jaw while eating for some days after the surgery. It is better to feed on liquid foods at postoperative stage for restricted movement of the mouth. Intake of fresh fruits and vegetables rather than meat or raw fish is effective against bacteria. Listerine is recommended to rinse your mouth several times a day.