In short
- 🔑 The nose and the lip affect one another, and the point where that shows is the nasolabial angle. Changing one changes how the other is perceived.
- The combination has been studied. A systematic review of 6 studies and 361 patients found high satisfaction, improvement in the nasolabial and frontonasal angles and shortening of lip length.
- And the complications were minor: mild scarring and temporary paraesthesia as the most frequent, both resolving within a few months, with no long-term deterioration of nasal airflow or lip function.
- A series of 50 patients who had both procedures reports a reduction in lip length of 5.72 mm, an increase in the nasolabial angle of 27.36 degrees and satisfaction of 96%.
- ⚠️ That figure of 5.72 mm is almost double the shortening the systematic review publishes for the lip lift on its own (2 to 3.5 mm). It is one centre and one series: it must not be read as meaning that combining shortens more.
- 🚨 A facelift does NOT correct a long upper lip. It acts on the cheek, the jawline and the neck; the central perioral area falls outside its reach.
- ✅ They are combined here, provided the surgeon’s medical assessment considers it appropriate. The lip lift adds little operating time, so in people in good general health and with no relevant comorbidities it can be added to a rhinoplasty or to a facelift.
The nose and the upper lip are not two neighbouring areas: they share a border. The incision of a subnasal lip lift falls exactly where the base of the nose ends, and the angle the two form — the nasolabial angle — depends on both at once.
Hence they are fairly often considered together. And hence too a fact that surprises a great many people: a facelift does not rejuvenate the upper lip.
Why the nose and the lip go together
The meeting point is the base of the nose: the area where the nasal alae and the foot of the columella rest on the upper lip. Three relevant things happen there:
1. The lip lift incision is right there. The subnasal line runs along the lower border of the alae and around the columella — exactly the territory a rhinoplasty also handles.
2. The nasolabial angle is shared. It is the angle formed by the columella and the upper lip. A rhinoplasty that rotates the tip opens it; a lip lift that shortens the lip also changes how it is perceived. Working on one without looking at the other is what produces unbalanced profiles.
3. They affect each other visually. A shorter nose makes a long lip look longer still. And the other way round: shortening the lip changes the proportion of the lower third of the face relative to the nose.
🔑 That is why the honest conversation in the consultation is not “what do you want operated on?” but “what is going on with your profile?”. It is the approach of profiloplasty, which works on the profile as a unit — nose, chin and the relationships between them.
What the evidence says about combining them
It is one of the few combinations in facial surgery with a systematic review of its own.
The systematic review (2024): 6 studies, 361 patients. Results: high satisfaction, improvement in the nasolabial and frontonasal angles, and shortening of lip length. Minimal complications, with mild scarring and temporary paraesthesia as the most frequent, both resolving within a few months. And one relevant functional finding: no long-term deterioration of nasal airflow or lip function.
Its conclusion is that the combined approach is safe and effective, particularly for those seeking facial harmony — and the authors call for long-term studies.
A later series (2026) of 50 patients who had rhinoplasty and lip lift between 2021 and 2024 measured before and after:
| Change | |
|---|---|
| Upper lip length | −5.72 mm |
| Nasal length | −18.8 mm |
| Nasolabial angle | +27.36° |
| Satisfaction | 96% |
⚠️ And here a warning has to be given that no website will give you. That shortening of 5.72 mm is almost double the figure the systematic review publishes for the lip lift on its own, which puts the philtrum at 14.0-14.5 mm before and 10.8-12.0 mm after — a difference of between 2 and 3.5 mm.
It may be that something different is being measured — “lip length” is not necessarily “philtrum length” —, that the technique differs or that it is a single centre with 50 patients. What cannot be concluded is that combining with rhinoplasty shortens the lip more. These are figures from different studies and they are not comparable just like that.
The facelift: the surprise
This is the point most people do not know about, and it explains a consultation that comes up again and again: people who have had a facelift, happy with the result, who still see the same mouth as always.
🚨 A facelift does not rejuvenate the upper lip. It acts on the tissues of the cheek, the jawline and the neck, repositioning deep planes upwards and backwards. The central perioral area — the philtrum, the lip, the region around the mouth — falls outside its territory.
That is why you can end up with a face whose middle and lower thirds are rejuvenated and an upper lip that is still long, thin and showing no tooth. It is a disharmony that even a well-executed operation does not resolve, because it is beyond its reach.
🔑 The practical consequence: if you are considering a facelift and what bothers you most when you look at yourself is your mouth, that part has to be treated separately — and it can be treated in the same operation, which is precisely one of the reasons the two are combined here. And the other way round: anyone who has already had a facelift and is still unhappy with the central lower third has an anatomical explanation, not a poor result.
What has to be weighed before combining
Combining has obvious advantages — one anaesthetic, one recovery, one period off work — and also costs worth putting on the table:
In favour:
- A single recovery instead of two.
- A coherent result: the profile is planned as a whole rather than in parts.
- A lower total cost than two separate operations.
Against:
- More operating time in a single sitting — although in this particular combination the lip lift adds little: the bulk of the time comes from the other operation.
- A more dramatic recovery: the swelling from a rhinoplasty adds to that of the lip in the same part of the face.
- And a difficulty of attribution: if the result does not convince, it is harder to know which part to revise.
And this is the position of the house: yes, they are combined. The condition is the usual one — that the surgeon’s medical assessment considers you a good candidate for doing it in one sitting.
🔑 What tips the balance in this particular case is that the lip lift adds little operating time. It is not a matter of adding two major operations together: it is adding a short manoeuvre to a larger one. That is why, in people in good general health and with no relevant comorbidities, combining it with a rhinoplasty or with a facelift is reasonable.
⚠️ The condition is not decorative. What decides it is not that the two operations fit together nicely on paper, but the state of health of the person being operated on and how much longer the anaesthetic runs. That assessment is individual and is made beforehand, not in theatre.
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Frequently asked questions
Can everything be done in the same operation?
Yes, and the literature describes the combination of rhinoplasty and lip lift as safe and effective across 361 patients reviewed. It is done here, if the medical assessment considers it appropriate: in good general health and with no relevant comorbidities, the lip lift adds little time to the other operation. Whether it is done in your particular case remains an individual clinical decision.
Will a rhinoplasty shorten my lip?
Not directly. What it does is change the nasolabial angle and the proportion between nose and lip, which changes how the lip is perceived. If the lip really is long, a rhinoplasty does not shorten it — it may even make it more obvious.
I had a facelift years ago and my mouth is unchanged — why?
Because a facelift does not reach there. It acts on the cheek, the jawline and the neck, not on the central perioral area. It is not a poor result: it is the reach of the technique.
Which is operated on first if they are done separately?
There is no fixed order, and you should be wary of anyone who gives you one without having seen you. It depends on the surgeon’s assessment, on what manoeuvres the nose requires if the nose is being operated on, and on your expectations and your priorities — what bothers you most and what you want resolved first.
🔑 Put another way: the order comes out of assessing the whole profile, not from a general rule.
And what about the chin?
The chin is part of the same profile and is the other classic vertex alongside the nose. It is covered in rhinoplasty and harmony with the chin and in profiloplasty.
Do the risks add up?
The systematic review describes minimal complications in the combination, with mild scarring and temporary paraesthesia as the most frequent and no long-term functional deterioration. Even so, more operating time and more areas operated on is more of everything, and that is part of what is weighed in deciding. The risks specific to each are in risks of the lip lift and on the rhinoplasty page.
Sources
- Alnami R, Ahmed S, Alashrah AS, Alasmari T, Alamry RM, Alghamdi HA, AlNaser Y, Alharbi D, et al. Aesthetic and Functional Outcomes of Simultaneous Rhinoplasty and Lip Lift Surgery: A Systematic Review. Cureus, 2024. PMID 39659329. — PRISMA systematic review with risk-of-bias assessment using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale; 6 studies and 361 patients; high satisfaction and favourable aesthetic outcomes, with improvement in the nasolabial and frontonasal angles and shortening of lip length; minimal complications, mild scarring and temporary paraesthesia being the most frequent and both resolving within a few months; no long-term functional deterioration of nasal airflow or lip function; the authors call for long-term outcome studies.
- Sarı E, Aliyeva A. Aesthetic and Psychological Outcomes of Combined Rhinoplasty with Lip Lift. Facial Plastic Surgery, 2026. PMID 40527484. — STROBE-compliant retrospective cohort study of 50 female patients aged 18 to 49 operated on between April 2021 and October 2024; statistically significant post-operative reductions in lip length (−5.72 mm) and nasal length (−18.8 mm) and an increase in the nasolabial angle (+27.36°); satisfaction rate of 96% measured with a visual analogue scale and a composite score.
- Komisarek O, Banasiak Ł, Olichwer V, Burduk P. The Bullhorn and Beyond: Evidence-Based Review and Clinical Recommendations for Lip Lift Techniques. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2026. PMID 41731334. — Systematic review of 7 studies and 1,754 patients; in the isolated lip lift, philtrum length went from 14.0-14.5 mm to 10.8-12.0 mm, the figure against which the shortening published in the combined-surgery series is compared here.
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If what bothers you when you look at your profile is something you cannot quite place — whether it is the nose, the lip or the relationship between the two — that is precisely the assessment to make before choosing an operation. The whole profile is studied, and out of that comes what is worth touching, in what order and whether it makes sense to do it at the same time.
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Last reviewed: 6 September 2026. This content is for information only and does not replace an individual assessment by a healthcare professional.
