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CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2019; 46(03): 248-254
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2018.01319
Original Article

Perception of upper lip augmentation utilizing simulated photography

Gary Linkov 
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
,
Elizabeth Wick
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
,
Dorina Kallogjeri
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
,
Collin L. Chen
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
,
Gregory H. Branham
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
› Author AffiliationsREDCap supported by Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Grant (UL1 TR000448) and Siteman Comprehensive Cancer Center and NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA091842).
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Background No head to head comparison is available between surgical lip lifting and upper lip filler injections to decide which technique yields the best results in patients. Despite the growing popularity of upper lip augmentation, its effect on societal perceptions of attractiveness, successfulness and overall health in woman is unknown.

Methods Blinded casual observers viewed three versions of independent images of 15 unique patient lower faces for a total of 45 images. Observers rated the attractiveness, perceived success, and perceived overall health for each patient image. Facial perception questions were answered on a visual analog scale from 0 to 100, where higher scores corresponded to more positive responses.

Results Two hundred and seventeen random observers with an average age of 47 years (standard deviation, 15.9) rated the images. The majority of observers were females (n=183, 84%) of white race (n=174, 80%) and had at least some college education (n=202, 93%). The marginal mean score for perceived attractiveness from the natural condition was 1.5 points (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.9–2.18) higher than perceived attractiveness from the simulated upper lip filler injection condition, and 2.6 points higher (95% CI, 1.95–3.24) than the simulated upper lip lift condition. There was a moderate to strong correlation between the scores of the same observer.

Conclusions Simulated upper lip augmentation is amenable to social perception analysis. Scores of the same observer for attractiveness, successfulness, and overall health are strongly correlated. Overall, the natural condition had the highest scores in all categories, followed by simulated upper lip filler, and lastly simulated upper lip lift.

Keywords

Lip - Surgery, plastic - Injections - Perception


Publication History

Received: 01 November 2018

Accepted: 23 April 2019

Article published online:
28 March 2022

© 2019. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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