In short
- The consultation is where everything is decided. How much skin is removed, which incision pattern is used and whether surgery is indicated at all are settled before going into theatre, not inside it.
- 🔑 And there is a part of the assessment that cannot be done with the face at rest: what matters is how far your lip rises when you smile. That is why it cannot be assessed from a photograph or over a video call.
- The markings are drawn with the patient standing or sitting, before going in: lying down, the tissues shift and the reference points stop being valid.
- The operation is a day case under local anaesthetic. You walk in and you walk out the same day.
- You go home the same day, with the wound covered by a sterile dressing that stays on for the first 5 days.
- The skin sutures come out at 7 days, and from that point you can wear make-up over the area. The deep ones are absorbable and are not removed.
- ⚠️ The consent form is read at home and at leisure, not at the theatre door. It lists risks you ought to have read beforehand.
- And the result is not judged there: the minimum is 8 months — and here we prefer 12 — before even raising the question of a revision.
Most of the fear of a small operation does not come from the risk: it comes from not knowing what is going to happen. This page walks through the whole process, from the first consultation to the day the sutures come out.
The pathway described here is ICPM’s, confirmed by the centre’s surgeons. Where something depends on the individual case, it says so.
1. The first consultation
It is the most decisive part of the whole process, and the one that least resembles what people expect.
What is examined. The length of your philtrum, how much upper incisor shows with the mouth at rest, the quality of your skin and your history of healing. And above all, what your face does in movement: how far the lip rises when you smile and how much gum is on show.
🔑 That last point is the one that decides the indication, and it is why a photograph is no use: a lip can look like a perfect candidate at rest and stop being one the moment the person smiles. It is covered in lip lift, gummy smile and teeth.
And one consultation is enough. Several visits before surgery are not needed: in that one you are examined, the decision is made and you leave with the quotation and the consent form.
✅ It can be done by video consultation, because what has to be seen — the face talking and smiling — does show on video. ⚠️ Even so, an in-person assessment before the operation is always advisable: there are things — the quality and thickness of the skin, palpating the area — that a screen does not give you. What is not acceptable, here or anywhere, is assessing from a photograph.
What is decided. Whether surgery is indicated — and the answer may be no —, how much skin it would be right to remove in your case, which incision pattern and which type of anaesthetic. It is covered in who is a candidate and who is not.
What you take away. A written quotation and the consent form, which is signed in the consultation itself after the surgeon has gone through it with you — and which also reaches you by email once signed, so that you can go back over it as many times as you like.
⚠️ A lip lift consultation that does not include examining your smile is incomplete, however good the explanation of everything else may be.
2. Between the consultation and the operation
The consent form. It is signed in the consultation, after the surgeon’s explanation, and it reaches you signed by email — so that you can reread it at home, at leisure and with nobody waiting in front of you. It lists the risks — the common ones and the rare ones — and it is the document you need to have understood before signing. The risks are set out in full in risks and complications of the lip lift.
Stopping smoking, and a month in advance. That is the interval recommended here, and there is a figure behind it: in facial surgery, the risk of a wound complication in active smokers is between 1.8 and 12 times higher. And for two weeks after surgery as well. This is not general health advice: in an operation whose result is a scar in the middle of the face, it is the modifiable factor that weighs most.
Pre-operative tests depend solely on the type of anaesthetic, and here it is quite specific:
| Pre-operative tests | |
|---|---|
| Local anaesthetic — the usual option | None, in good health and with no relevant comorbidities |
| Sedation or general anaesthetic | Blood tests, an ECG and an assessment by the anaesthetist |
And in both cases: anticoagulant medication is stopped before the operation. It is the only withdrawal of medication the protocol requires as a matter of course, and the specific instructions come from the surgeon — an anticoagulant is never stopped on your own initiative.
3. The day of the operation
The markings. They are drawn before going in, with the patient standing or sitting. It is the moment when the plan from the consultation is translated into lines on the skin, and it is worth looking in the mirror with the markings on: it is the last chance to ask.
The anaesthetic. It is done under local anaesthetic, and that is the usual way: you are awake and you feel no pain.
✅ And there is an alternative worth knowing about: it can be done under sedation if you prefer, typically because of anxiety at the idea of being awake. That is a legitimate request and it is accommodated. What changes then is the work-up — blood tests, an ECG and an assessment by the anaesthetist, as in the table above.
The operation. The marked strip of skin is removed, above the muscle, and the closure is done in layers: a deep one, which holds the tension of the lift, and a superficial one, which brings the skin together. The technique is set out in detail in the subnasal technique.
The operation takes around an hour. It is a short procedure, and that brevity is also what makes it possible to add it to another — it is covered in combined lip lift.
Discharge. It is day-case surgery: you go home the same day, with no overnight stay.
4. The first few days at home
- At 24 hours: a normal shower, taking care not to wet the wound, drying with cool air, and arnica creams can now be used for the bruising.
- Intermittent local cold at between 8 and 15 °C for the swelling — never ice directly.
- You do the dressings yourself: washing with saline and sterile gauze, disinfecting with chlorhexidine and a sterile dressing.
- The dressing stays on for the first 5 days; after that the wound can be left uncovered.
- Lipstick from day one. The rest of your make-up, from suture removal at 7 days.
- A normal diet. There is no need for soft food.
- Factor 50 sun protection over the whole face from the following day, and for 3 months.
All the detail, with the timings for returning to work and to sport, is in lip lift recovery day by day.
5. Suture removal
The skin ones, at 7 days — and from that point you can wear make-up over the area. The deep ones are not removed: they are absorbable and dissolve on their own, so there is no second visit for that. 🔑 That is why this interval is shorter than the 12 or 15 days you read elsewhere: there the closure carries two layers of sutures that have to come out; here only the skin layer does.
And one note worth knowing: at the doctor’s discretion it may be necessary to keep them in or replace them for longer than stated. If in your case they take longer, it does not mean anything is wrong.
If you are coming from outside Valencia, this is already sorted and it means neither a long stay nor a second trip.
- You can fly from the day after the operation.
- And the sutures can be removed in your own city, at 7 days, provided this is agreed and coordinated with the surgeon in advance and subject to an assessment by video consultation or by image. It is the surgeon who authorises that remote removal after seeing how the wound is doing — it is not automatic.
⚠️ That it can be done does not mean it is always best. If the wound is not healing as it should, an in-person assessment is again what is indicated.
6. Afterwards: the long calendar
After suture removal, care of the scar begins: daily sun protection and three sessions of CO₂ laser with intense pulsed light, at the first, second and third month. That schedule is not arbitrary: it is the centre’s scar protocol, which follows the window described by a 2025 meta-analysis of 14 controlled trials and 492 patients — starting within the first month improves the scar significantly and, once three months have passed, that benefit is no longer significant. ⚠️ On the face silicone dressings are not used, despite being the standard in other locations: they show and they bother. The whole calendar is in the lip lift scar.
Between the first and third month the scar looks worse before it gets better: it turns red, thickens and hardens. This is the expected phase, not a poor result.
At 8 months. That is the minimum before even considering an aesthetic revision. Before that, what you have is not the result. It is covered in results and duration.
And the schedule of review appointments is fixed, which is one of the things almost nobody publishes:
| Review | What for |
|---|---|
| At 7 days | Removal of the skin sutures |
| At one month | Early progress of the scar |
| At 3 months | The phase in which the scar is at its worst |
| At 6 months | Scar now settling down |
| At one year | Result and scar fully matured — this is when any revision is considered |
🔑 All five are included in the price, along with suture removal and the operating theatre. It is set out in detail on the lip lift page.
Book an appointment
You can book your own appointment. Pick the day and time from the free slots in the diary, in a panel that opens right here, without leaving this page.
Frequently asked questions
How many consultations are needed before surgery?
One. In that consultation you are examined, it is decided what is appropriate and you leave with the quotation and the signed consent form — which also arrives by email so you can reread it.
It can be done by video consultation, because what matters — how your face moves when you talk and smile — does show on video. ⚠️ Even so, an in-person assessment before surgery is always advisable. From a photograph, by contrast, no assessment is made under any circumstances.
Can I come on my own and go home on my own?
It is day-case surgery under local anaesthetic, so in principle you walk out. But the external guidance from the professional society recommends not driving for the first 3 days, which in practice means arranging your way home.
Will I be shown the markings before surgery?
You should be, and it is worth looking at them. It is the moment when the plan appears on your own face.
Can you stop at that point?
Yes. Informed consent can be withdrawn right up to the last moment, and nobody should make you feel otherwise.
When do I go back to work?
Between the first and second week in the usual course of things, with cases of up to 4 weeks. But in this surgery what governs the return is usually the face, not your physical state: the scar is somewhere that cannot be covered up. It is covered in recovery.
Sources
- Sturm A. Lip Lift. Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America, 2022. PMID 35750522. — Keys to a good result: an incision design that respects the natural anatomy, the tension of the lift placed below the dermis, an amount of lift appropriate to the patient’s anatomy and preservation of the orbicularis oris muscle.
- 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; it recommends an individualised, anatomy-guided choice of technique, and notes that patient selection remains unstandardised.
Book your consultation
If what is holding you back is not knowing what is going to happen, the first consultation answers exactly that: you are examined, it is explained what would be appropriate in your case and you take away the quotation and the consent form to read at home. Nothing has to be decided that day.
Clinical confirmation by the surgeon
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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.
