Karen, 24, turned to Miami-based plastic surgeon Dr. Ruslan Zhuravsky for her lip lift
Credit: Z Face Plastic Surgery (2)
NEED TO KNOW
- Twenty-four-year-old Karen turned to Miami-based plastic surgeon Dr. Ruslan Zhuravsky for a lip lift
- She tells PEOPLE that she tried lip filler in the past but it didn’t give her the look she wanted
- Her procedure took only an hour, and she says she’s thrilled with her results
Karen was never quite satisfied with her smile.
She tells PEOPLE that even when she was young, she felt like she was talking with her bottom lip and didn't have enough "tooth show".
"All my friends did," Karen, 24, says. "While talking one time with my mother, I told her, I'm like, 'I don't get it.'"
Because Karen had a long philtrum — the skin between her nose and upper lip — her top lip didn't move as much, and when she talked and smiled, not only did her teeth not show very much, but her lip also barely showed any vermilion (the red part of the lips).
Credit: Z Face Plastic Surgery
She first tried lip filler, but that procedure doesn't address the root of her problem.
"I didn't like it because it was just weird for me," she tells PEOPLE. "I didn't want a big lip, and this just made my lip cover more of my teeth. I wanted tooth show."
Eventually, she consulted with plastic surgeons to see if there was a solution for the disappointment in her appearance. She quickly found, though, that the surgeons she was meeting with were all saying the same thing: She was too young to get surgery on her lip.
Then she found Miami-based plastic surgeon Dr. Ruslan Zhuravsky. Upon meeting, he told Karen she was the "perfect candidate" for a lip lift, which is a procedure that shortens the skin between the nose and the upper lip.
"A lip lift is going to do four things," Dr. Zhuravksy explains. "It's going to shorten the philtrum. It's going to roll out the lip to give you more volume. It's going to bring up the lip to give a prettier shape, rather than a flat shape, and it's going to give you more tooth show."
He adds that it's a balancing game to make sure the procedure comes together properly.
"For example, somebody who has a really long lip and very long teeth, I can't make their philtrum so short, because otherwise they're going to have too much tooth show now or they won't be able to close their mouth. With Karen, she actually didn't have a very big distance. She wanted her to see her teeth."
Credit: Z Face Plastic Surgery
For the procedure, which takes about an hour and can be done under local anesthesia, the doctor makes a small incision under the nose. Dr. Zhuravsky brings up the muscle, which brings up the lip. This leaves a natural look that can't be achieved with filler.
Karen's procedure went as planned, as did her recovery.
"I thought because it was the lip, it was going to be tender and sore. But I did not take any of the pain medications when I got home," she says.
Karen's recovery was so easy that she wanted to return to work right away (though she waited a few days until she was cleared by the doctor).
Just a week later, Karen saw her mom for the first time, and she couldn't even tell that she'd had anything done. Not only was Karen healed, but her results were so natural-looking that she simply looked like herself.
Dr. Zhuravsky explains that Karen had an easier recovery than average, but everyone is different.
"She did pretty well. I tell people, just in case, give yourself about two weeks," he says. "The first three days, you're going to look in the mirror and think, 'Oh my God, what did I do? This is definitely not normal.' You look like you're having an allergic reaction [from swelling]."
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Credit: Courtesy of Karen
Now that she's fully healed, Karen is thrilled with her appearance. She has the tooth show she always wanted and doesn't have to deal with filler. (The filler she had, Dr. Zhuravsky dissolved.)
"I love taking pictures now. I'm in the front row. I'm not in the back anymore. I am so happy," she says.
"We're doing [these procedures] to make [patients] feel better about themselves," Dr. Zhuravsky adds. "One of the things I do love about this field is I get to help people on that level. Some will call it superficial, but there is something to it. It's not all just superficial. It truly improves their life."
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