Lip Lift Regret and Younger Patients: What I See in Austin
You may have seen the recent Allure article on lip lift risks published in Jan 2026, which warned that a whole generation of young women may come to regret their lip lifts. Several surgeons quoted in the piece said they steer patients in their 20s and 30s away from the procedure.
I take those concerns seriously. I also think some of the conversation has slid into fearmongering. A lip lift is one of the procedures I specifically trained to do in fellowship, and I perform it often in Austin, in both younger and older patients. So I want to share what I’m actually seeing, what tends to go wrong, and what I do differently.
What a Lip Lift Is
A lip lift shortens the distance between the base of the nose and the top of the upper lip. It can be done as an in-office procedure under local anesthesia, or in the operating room alongside a facelift, brow lift, or other procedures.
The patients I see for full face rejuvenation are usually in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond. For them, the lip lift is one part of a larger plan. Younger patients, men and women in their 20s and 30s, usually come in for a lip lift on its own.
For a standalone lip lift, I make a small incision just under the nose and remove a strip of skin I’ve carefully measured beforehand. Sometimes I add a corner lip lift to lift the outer parts of the mouth.
My personal aesthetic is that the lip shape shouldn’t change much. The middle shouldn’t lift much more than the sides. When it’s done that way, most people won’t know you’ve had anything done.
Why We’re Seeing Mixed Results
The lip lift has only become popular over roughly the last five to seven years. Before that, it was a fairly niche procedure, and many surgeons simply didn’t train in it. I think that explains a lot of the mixed reviews.
I see quite a few revision patients in my office. My assumption is that many of them went to surgeons who don’t do this procedure often. The problems tend to fall into a few patterns.
An Unnatural Lip Shape
The most common issue is that only the center of the upper lip was lifted, and the sides weren’t. Fortunately, that’s usually an easy fix. I can lift the outer segments, sometimes with a corner lip lift, to balance the shape.
Very Long Healing and a Stiff Lip
Some patients tell me their lip took a very long time to heal and still doesn’t move normally. In my opinion, one cause is too much undermining. That means lifting the skin off the muscle beyond the incision. It’s meant to reduce tension, but it can leave the muscle underneath swollen for much longer than if you undermine only enough to place a good supporting stitch.
Another cause can be deep sutures anchored from the fascia above the muscle all the way to the bone under the nose. To do that, you pass through many layers of tissue and disrupt more of the lymphatic channels. The result can be prolonged swelling.
Trouble Closing the Mouth
This is the one that worries people most. Some patients panic right after surgery because the lip feels too tight to close. In the first few weeks, the lip will be tighter and more elevated than it will be several months later, so I ask patients to give it time.
If you’re six months or more out and still can’t close your mouth, too much skin may have been removed. Patients sometimes ask me to take more and more. As a lip lift surgeon, I have to balance function against aesthetics. I’d much rather go back and take a few more millimeters later than remove too much the first time.
If too much skin has been removed, there isn’t much in the literature about how to fix it. From my reconstructive background, I see two options: a skin graft, which often doesn’t match the color of the surrounding skin, or a local flap from the cheek to lengthen the upper lip. I haven’t had to do either. As the procedure becomes more popular, I suspect some surgeons will.
My post on what can go wrong with a lip lift goes into more detail about these issues.
Why Scarring Can Be Different in Younger Patients
The scar is the biggest worry for younger patients, and that worry has a real basis.
Younger people tend to heal with a more robust scar response. They produce more collagen and more fibrosis during healing. In my view, part of this comes down to signaling molecules such as stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1), which I believe are more active in younger patients.
Published data line up with what I see clinically. A 2022 study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery found that older patients were less likely to develop keloids and hypertrophic scars after a chest incision. A 2024 analysis of facial scars in the International Wound Journal found that scars around the mouth and chin were more likely to be hypertrophic than scars elsewhere on the face.
Older patients also have less collagen and elastin in the skin. There’s less pull on the incision as it heals. And the lip lift incision sits in an area that never rests. It moves when you talk, smile, laugh, and cough.
What I Do to Protect the Scar
These steps apply to all my lip lift patients, and they matter most for younger ones.
Deep Support in the Right Layer
I place PDS sutures in the strong fascial layer just above the orbicularis muscle. Not in the muscle and not in the skin. I suture that fascia to the equivalent layer above the incision. PDS dissolves slowly, over roughly 6-8 months, so it holds tension off the incision while the scar matures.
You’ll feel a little tight while those sutures are in. That’s on purpose. We want the incision to move less while it heals.
A 2026 series of 600 patients in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery looked at subnasal lip lifts that used deeper support rather than relying on skin tension alone, with a focus on scar quality. The principle is the same one I follow: take tension off the skin.
Platelet-Rich Fibrin
I inject platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) at the time of the procedure. We draw your blood in the office, spin it in a centrifuge, and use your own growth factors at the incision. In my experience, scar color and strength both improve.
No Ointment
I’m a stickler about what goes on the incision. I find that ointments, even Vaseline or Aquaphor, can irritate the area. The incision sits right outside the nostril, which carries a lot of bacteria, and ointment can hold that in. If there’s no scab, you don’t need it.
Instead, I have patients keep it clean and use a hypochlorous acid spray. Hypochlorous acid is antimicrobial and calms inflammation. A 2020 consensus paper in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology reviewed its use in wound care and scar management after dermatologic and plastic surgery procedures. Since I switched, I see less redness, faster healing, and better scars.
Planning for Touch-Ups
Some patients still need a steroid injection or a laser treatment afterward. It’s uncommon, and more common in younger patients. After about six weeks, we can use an erbium laser, which has less downtime than CO2. If I use steroids, I go low and slow. Too much steroid can turn a raised scar into a sunken one.
Because I see a lot of patients from out of state, I make sure you have someone near home, such as a dermatologist, who can do these treatments if needed. Flying back for every touch-up would be a real burden.
My Take on the Fear
It’s a pet peeve of mine when surgeons go online to scare people away from good procedures. Most of the treatments that get targeted work well in the right patient. What matters is patient selection and the person doing it.
A lip lift is one of the procedures my patients are happiest with. Results show up fast, often sooner than the rest of their facial surgery because there’s less swelling around the mouth. Many patients who decide against it end up wishing they’d done it.
If you’re young and considering a lip lift, find a surgeon who does them often, in both younger and older patients, and ask how they handle scar care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Am I too young for a lip lift?
Age alone doesn’t decide it. Your lip length, tooth show, skin type, and scar history matter more. Younger patients should expect closer scar care. See what is the best age for a lip lift.
Can a bad lip lift be fixed?
Often, yes. An uneven shape is usually correctable. Removing too much skin is harder to fix, which is why I’m conservative. Read more about lip lift revision surgery.
Why does my lip feel tight after a lip lift?
Some tightness is expected while the deep sutures are holding tension. It eases over the first few months.
The Bottom Line
A lip lift can be a great procedure for a younger patient when it’s done carefully, with conservative skin removal and a real plan for the scar.
Let’s Chat
If you’ve had a lip lift elsewhere and aren’t happy, or you’re considering one and want an honest opinion, schedule a consultation. I see patients at my office in southwest Austin, toward Dripping Springs, and virtually from anywhere.
You May Also Like:
- How to Minimize a Lip Lift Scar
- Botched Lip Lift: What Can Go Wrong
- Lip Lift Revision Surgery
- How Long Does a Lip Lift Last?
- Male Lip Lift
- Lip Lift Before and After Gallery
References
- Allure. The Risks of Lip Lifts That You Don’t See on Instagram. (Context for patient concerns, not clinical evidence.)
- Sugimoto A, et al. Older Patients and Patients with Severe Arteriosclerosis Are Less Likely to Develop Keloids and Hypertrophic Scars after Thoracic Midline Incision. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2022;150(3):659-669.
- Kim GH, et al. Morphological characteristics of facial scars: A retrospective analysis according to scar location, onset, age, and cause. Int Wound J. 2024;21(4):e14453.
- Ceran F, et al. SMAS Modifications in Subnasal Lip Lifting: Evaluation of 600 Patients. Aesthetic Plast Surg. 2026. Online ahead of print.
- Gold MH, et al. Topical stabilized hypochlorous acid: The future gold standard for wound care and scar management in dermatologic and plastic surgery procedures. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2020;19(2):270-277.
