Bikini Lip Reduction

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active and it was easier than checking each one. 

Just now getting to writing up this article.  I think it is a really nice approach to oversized lips and a good procedure to add to one’s skills.  The article is The “Bikini” Lip Reduction: An Approach to
Oversized Lips by Drs Fanous, Brousseau, and Yoskovitch.  The full reference is given below.  It is a simple, but elegant description of a technique for lip reduction.

Sir: 
………. The reduction of very large lips is not a new procedure but remains a relatively unused one and has received little attention in the literature.  The following presents a modified method for lip reduction referred to as the “bikini” reduction, consisting of excising a “bikini top” (two cups and a middle strap) from the upper lip, and a  “bikini bottom” (a triangle) from the lower lip. This  technique is unique in that it focuses not only on lip reduction but also on labial contouring and volume balance. ……………..

The patient is asked to close the lips gently. A marker
is used to place a dot in the midline between both upper and lower lips at the actual dry/wet junction (Fig. 1, center, points a and a=). The patient is then asked to open the lips slightly, as the surgeon manipulates the
lips with his or her fingers by rotating them inward,
attempting to make them appear smaller.  The patient
then closes the lips. This is repeated until the size of the
showing vermilion is adequately reduced, ensuring the lower lip remains roughly 40 to 50 percent more voluminous than the upper one.

Then, another dot is made in the midline on the newly created dry/wet interface (Fig. 1, center, points b and b=). The patient then opens the lips, revealing four central dots (a, a=, b, and b=).

The bikini design is now implemented (Fig. 1, center).
The bikini top is marked by drawing the central strap
as two parallel lines between a and b for a distance of
approximately 1 cm, then diverging to form two oval
cups bilaterally. The cups’ anteroposterior dimension
(c to d) should be approximately double that of a to b
and should end in a tapered manner a few millimeters
before the commissures. The bikini bottom is drawn as
a triangle (e to b= to f), with points e and f stopping a few millimeters from the commissures……..

I hope you will look up the article and read the entire work.  For more information on lip reduction, also, check the other references and the post I did on lip reduction back in January.

REFERENCES
1.  The “Bikini” Lip Reduction: An Approach to Oversized Lips; Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery:Volume 122(1)July 2008, pp 22e-23e; Nabil Fanous, M.D., Vale´rie J. Brousseau, B.Sc.H., M.D.C.M., Adi Yoskovitch, M.D.
2.  Reduction cheiloplasty for upper lip hemangiomas; Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 88: 222, 1991.; Hauben, D. J.
3.   A simple surgical remedy for iatrogenic excessively thick lips. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 110: 1329, 2002; Botti, G., Botti, C. H., and Cella, A.
4.  Reduction cheiloplasty: An adjunctive procedure in the black rhinoplasty patient. Arch. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 114: 779, 1988; Stucker, F. J.
5.  Correction of thin lips: “Lip lift.” Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 74: 33, 1984; Fanous, N.