Hidden bullhorn is gaining momentum in popularity. The incision is made along the oral mucosa, from the inside, in the place where the nose begins on the back side. Scars are not visible even upon close examination, but it cannot cope with complex imperfections.
There are three types of operations based on objectives.
- Reconstructive (corrects congenital defects or consequences of injuries).
- Anti-aging (fights age-related changes).
- Image (when a person wants to look in accordance with his ideas of beauty).
The hidden bullhorn is preferable for operations of the latter variety. All the features of the procedure are tailored specifically for aesthetic purposes. In this case, it is possible to perform the second function to a certain extent - excess skin is excised with layer-by-layer stitching, due to which wrinkles and ptosis are removed.
What is bullhorn cheiloplasty?
Bullhorn lipplasty is a plastic surgery, one of the types of cheiloplasty.
If we use medical terminology, a bullhorn is a subnasal surgical lift, the purpose of which is to reduce the distance between the nose and upper lip. This allows you to enlarge the upper lip and reduce its skin part.
The name of the procedure comes from the English bull's horn: a small incision in the fold under the nose is shaped like bull's horns.
Since reverse correction of bullhorn results is practically impossible, we at Platinental approach the planning stage very carefully. Before surgery, we take a series of anatomical facial measurements to calculate your individual beauty formula.
After all, the goal of this operation is not just to enlarge the upper lip. The goal is to make your lips sensual and your face more attractive.
The point is that there should be a place for lips on the face. And if the distance from the base of the nose to the upper lip is small, especially in combination with a drooping tip of the nose, we often recommend another correction method.
When forming the incision, we repeat the shape of the base of the nose so that the seam after the operation is carefully hidden in the fold underneath it.
Using a special microsurgical technology and without tissue tension, we form the thinnest possible suture, which after healing becomes no thicker than a human hair.
Recovery
After surgery, hospital observation is not required; the patient can go home immediately after the anesthesia wears off. Healing ointments and antiseptic preparations are used to treat the wound. The recovery period after cheiloplasty is about 2 weeks. During this time, it is recommended to limit physical activity, refuse solid food, limit facial expressions, and not visit the bathhouse and solarium. It is also strongly recommended not to smoke in the first month after surgery.
During the recovery period the following are possible:
- hematomas;
- pain;
- loss of skin sensitivity;
- edema;
- feeling of tightness.
To ensure that the result obtained is exactly as expected, as well as to minimize the occurrence of complications, it is necessary to contact a qualified surgeon. A medical specialist will perform lip augmentation and correction in the most appropriate way, and after the operation will give the necessary care recommendations to speed up healing.
! This is interesting: Methods of lip augmentation: the possibilities of plastic surgery and cosmetology
Cheiloplasty can be aesthetic or reconstructive. The possibilities of modern surgery make it possible to restore lips after injury, return them to an attractive appearance, and correct congenital defects.
Kalita Ekaterina Romanovna
Regular participant in conferences and seminars on plastic surgery. Priority areas: breast plastic surgery, abdominoplasty, intimate plastic surgery, combined anti-aging facial plastic surgery, otoplasty for children and adults, blepharoplasty. Postgraduate student at the Department of Thermal Injuries and Plastic Surgery of the Military Medical Academy.
When is lip surgery needed?
Bulhorn upper lipplasty is used to bring the distance between the upper lip and the nose to harmoniously perfect proportions. Therefore, the indications for surgery are very diverse:
- Lip augmentation.
After surgery, the thin upper lip gains more volume and sensuality.
- Strengthening the cupid's arch.
Since the operation is aimed only at the middle part of the upper lip, it allows you to create a pronounced cupid's arch and make your lips sexier.
- General facial rejuvenation.
Over time, the lips become thinner and longer, and the distance between the tip of the nose and the upper lip increases. The bullhorn lip lift significantly rejuvenates the lower third of the face.
- Harmonization of appearance.
The fact is that an increased disproportion between the nose and upper lip, even on a young face, is perceived by our subconscious as a sign of age. Normalizing this parameter returns youthful features to the face.
- Beautiful open smile.
The correct distance between the nose and upper lip is not only responsible for attractiveness. Due to the nature of the bite, the upper lip may hide the upper teeth. This smile looks closed and the teeth appear short.
Bulhorn allows you to get a correct and beautiful smile when, at rest, the upper lip exposes the front incisors by 1/3, and when smiling, it opens the teeth of the upper row.
FEATURES OF REHABILITATION AFTER LIP PLASTY
The patient can go home a few hours after the operation. The stitches are removed on the 5-7th day. How to properly care for the intervention area:
- There will be swelling immediately after surgery. To eliminate it as quickly as possible, we recommend applying ice.
- Do not wet the wound surface until the sutures are removed. To maintain hygiene, you can use wet wipes.
- Light makeup is allowed after the stitches are removed.
- For six months, solarium and sunbathing are prohibited. UV rays provoke the appearance of pigmentation on a fresh scar.
You can fully evaluate the results of plastic surgery six months after the procedure!
We pay special attention to the formation of invisible seams
The bullhorn scar is located in the visible part of the face. To disguise it, we at Platinental use a number of proprietary developments and tricks that we have accumulated over a long period of practice.
For example, we make an incision under the nose so that after healing it is securely hidden by the anatomical structures of the nose and falls out of sight. We perform fixation and suturing of the scar exclusively using microsurgical techniques. Due to this, the scar after bullhorn turns out thin and practically invisible.
If a small scar is still embarrassing, we perform laser resurfacing of the scar. But, as a rule, this is not required.
Expert comment:
“Bullhorn is not as simple an operation as it looks at first glance.
Before conducting it, I always take into account the rules of harmony and proportions of the golden section. My experience shows that to correct a smile and enlarge the upper lip, it is enough to remove literally 1-2 mm of skin.
Even with a strong desire to get plump lips, excision of a wide flap for bullhorn is contraindicated. On the one hand, this is fraught with excessive inversion of the mucous membrane, which cracks and becomes inflamed. On the other hand, a short distance between the nose and upper lip destroys attractive proportions and adds several years to the face.
Choose your bullhorn surgeon carefully. Do not forget that this operation is performed in the area of the most visible part of the face, and it is almost impossible to correct its results. There is no point in taking risks; correcting bad work in this case will be very difficult and expensive.”
Maxim Vasiliev, plastic surgeon.
Contraindications to the Bulhorn operation
Plastic surgery is not performed in the following cases:
- Tendency to form keloid and hypertrophic scars.
- The upper lip is too short.
- Oncological diseases.
- Blood clotting disorders.
- Herpes on the lips is in the acute stage.
- The nose is too turned up, which will make the scar very noticeable.
- Pregnancy.
- Exacerbation of chronic diseases.
- Diabetes.
To prepare for plastic surgery, the patient needs to consult a therapist, surgeon and anesthesiologist, and also undergo a series of tests. These are general requirements for any operation performed under anesthesia.
No special preparation is required for upper lip surgery. However, for 7-10 days before surgery, you must stop smoking and alcohol - smoking affects blood clotting, and alcohol can interfere with the effect of anesthesia drugs.
In addition, during this time you should avoid acid peels and other aggressive cosmetic procedures in the lip area.
Bullhorn varieties
The bullhorn operation is not always performed according to the same scenario. It has several modifications.
1. For example, there is the so-called internal, or VY bullhorn , when during the operation additional hidden incisions are made in the upper lip from the mucosal side.
The surgeon performs 2 incisions of the upper lip in the shape of a V followed by suturing in a Y shape. This method allows you to enhance the effect of plump lips and get a very natural result.
2. There is also an " Italian bullhorn ". In this case, the incision is not made in one continuous line, but consists of two small incisions to the right and left of the columella.
The advantages of this option include the fact that the scar under the nose after such a procedure is practically invisible. The downside is that this method will not lift the upper lip significantly.
WHAT'S BETTER - LIP ENlargement with FILLERS OR SURGICAL INTERVENTION
Many patients are frightened by the prospect of going, as they say, “under the knife” for the sake of beauty. In defense of the bullhorn, we can say that this is a minimally invasive procedure with an effect that lasts several times longer than injection techniques. For example, correction with hyaluronic acid filler must be repeated every 8-12 months. The result of plastic surgery lasts for life , if we talk about changing the shape, and for several years, if we are talking about the rejuvenating effect. The benefits of surgical lip correction include the following:
- Lifting the lip using the bullhorn technique provides a natural result: there is no so-called “duck profile” effect (excessive protrusion), as often happens after beauty injections.
- The tissue is minimally injured, so the rehabilitation period is short and easily tolerated.
- Paradoxical as it may seem at first glance, lip augmentation by a surgeon is a more comfortable procedure for the patient than the injection of gel by a cosmetologist. Plastic surgery is performed under local or general anesthesia, which means there is no pain at all. Lip shape correction using injections is considered one of the most painful and unpleasant, even with the use of an anesthetic cream.
The bullhorn technique is not used for gingival (gummy) smiles, as lifting the lip will worsen the defect.
Is it possible to do non-surgical bullhorn?
To enlarge the upper lip without surgery, it is enough to do lip augmentation with hyaluronic acid. However, lip correction with fillers is not always suitable for a number of reasons.
Firstly, to maintain lip size, fillers need to be pinned about twice a year.
Secondly, with initially thin lips, fillers cannot significantly affect their size.
Thirdly, what we talked about from the very beginning, the root of age-related changes in appearance most often lies not in the lips themselves, but in the increased distance between the upper lip and the nose. It is this problem that non-surgical correction cannot solve.
In what cases will contour plastic help?
The following correction techniques are distinguished:
- VY plastic. It is performed to enlarge the lips by making incisions in the shape of the letter V, and sutured in the shape of the letter Y. The incisions are made on the inside of the lips. Due to the unusual stitching, the lower part of the lip is turned outward and the red border is enlarged.
- Bullhorn method. Visually enlarges the lips by making incisions in the nasolabial fold and tightening the skin. In this case, the red border increases due to the fact that the inner part of the lip turns outward.
- Lip implants. The increase in lip volume occurs due to silicone or the patient’s own tissue. The surgeon forms tunnels in the lips and inserts this or that material into them. Silicone doesn't always look good on the upper lip as it has a thick texture. But its advantage is that this material can be easily removed. Your own implant does not cause rejection or an allergic reaction, but after some time it dissolves naturally.
In cosmetology and plastic surgery, facial contouring has no vital indications. The reasons for the procedure are the desire to change the shape of the lips, asymmetry or increase volume. Before the client reaches the age of majority, not a single professional cosmetologist will take on the job.
With the onset of age-related changes, when the lips lose their former volume, wrinkles appear around the mouth, contour plastic surgery is especially relevant.
Plastic surgery is also recommended for those who have:
- thin, undefined lips;
- blurred outline;
- asymmetry;
- dryness and pallor of the skin of the lips.
What types of cheiloplasty do I perform?
Bullhorn
Indications for bullhorn surgery
- the upper lip is very thin;
- the distance from the base of the nose to the red border of the upper lip is disproportionately large;
- the upper teeth are not visible at rest and when speaking;
- asymmetry is observed.
Local anesthesia is sufficient for the operation. All manipulations will not take more than 30-40 minutes.
During bullhorn cheiloplasty, a strip of skin adjacent to the base of the nose is removed. The excised flap is shaped like the horns of a bull, so a surgical intervention of this kind is called “bulhorn”, which in translation from English means “bull horns”.
Once a 4 to 8 mm wide strip of skin has been excised, the incision is sutured. As a result of such manipulations, the red border of the lips is slightly turned outward, and the skin part separating it from the nose is reduced. If indicated, bullhorn can be supplemented with another type of cheiloplasty.
VY plastic
Indications for VY-plasty:
- insufficiently voluminous lips;
- asymmetrical lips;
- desire to change the contour and volume of the lips;
- signs of lip aging;
- consequences of lip injuries.
During VYplasty, incisions are made in the shape of a V on the inside of the lip. And then they are sewn together in the shape of the letter Y. The desired volume is obtained by slightly turning out the wet area of the lips.
Reducing lip volume
Indications for lip reduction:
- disproportion between the size of the lips;
- unsuccessful effect of a non-absorbable gel previously introduced into the lips;
- injuries and burns;
- the presence of tubercles, asymmetry or other undesirable consequences of previously performed plastic surgery aimed at increasing the size of the lips.
During reduction cheiloplasty, a strip of tissue from the mucous membrane of the lips is excised. The incision is made from the side of the mouth and runs from one corner of the mouth to the other, and then absorbable sutures are applied.
Lipofilling of lips
Scientists performed a study that showed that plump, full lips in a woman make her look younger, regardless of her age. Scientists say that “the ability of voluminous lips to visually shrink over several years is quite understandable - after all, at the subconscious level we remember that children’s lips are always larger in relation to their faces than adults.” It is not surprising that many women today are concerned about the question of whether it is possible to enlarge their lips without risk to health.
An absolutely safe operation is lipofilling, which is based on the transplantation of the patient’s own fat cells.
The surgeon collects fatty tissue from the abdomen, flanks or thighs, and then injects the resulting material into the lips. As a result of these manipulations, the lips not only acquire a seductive swelling and a more attractive shape, but also become rejuvenated. The “culprits” of this effect are stem cells, which are found in abundance in human fatty tissues. They trigger regeneration processes, due to which the skin of the lips becomes smooth, elastic, full, and acquires a healthy color.
The operation lasts from 20 minutes to an hour. Lipofilling is considered one of the safest surgical interventions in aesthetic medicine, because it involves the use of the patient’s own fat - a natural material that is guaranteed not to cause rejection or allergies. The fat will remain exactly where it was injected, giving the lips the desired shape, volume and clear contour.
Corner elevator
Unfortunately, for most people, the corners of their mouths droop as they age. One of the methods is called
Most often, people over 30 years of age resort to the “corner lift” operation when:
- drooping corners of the mouth;
- folds and wrinkles in the mouth area;
- the need for rejuvenation of the lips and the area around them
During the corner lift operation, the doctor excises small areas of skin located at a distance of 3-4 mm from the corners of the mouth.
The incisions allow you to tighten and stitch the muscles that go to the corners of the lips. As a result of the manipulations, the corners of the mouth are raised, which instantly gives the face a more pleasant and youthful appearance. Corner lift is often combined with lipofilling of the area around the lips. The introduction of fat into this area allows you to eliminate “purse-string” wrinkles and rejuvenate the skin of the perioral area.
↑ How to prepare for surgery
The preliminary examination plan is standard and includes:
- blood tests (general, glucose level, coagulogram), urine;
- fluorography.
- ECG.
In order for the plastic surgery to be successful and not provoke complications, it is necessary to adjust your lifestyle 2 weeks before the surgery date:
- give up cigarettes and alcohol;
- stop taking medications that thin the blood (Aspirin, Diclofenac);
- exclude visits to the beach and solarium, avoid exposure to direct sunlight;
- Do not eat spicy, overly salty foods, do not get carried away with spices.
Before bullhorn, you cannot subject your face to hardware procedures; peeling is also prohibited. If the patient has a tendency to relapse of herpes, it is recommended to take Acyclovir in advance.
