LAM FACIAL PLASTICS

Hi my name is Adam, and I'm Thai/Chinese and 17 years of age. I recently got lip reduction surgery, my lips before the surgery were about 3/4 inch thick on both lips. This gave me a lot of self-conscious issues, held me back from doing many things in high school. My family doesn't have much money at all, so I had to wait many years til I could get this surgery. The Doctor I saw for this procedure is in Arcadia California. I told him I wanted them about 1/4 inch each. He said that it was no problem. So after the initial procedure in late August, my top lip swelled up so bad and I could not close my mouth, the incision he made was right next to the flap of skin that connects your lip and your gum(literally right under it). This caused him to pull back the lip really far back(to close the wound), but the problem is I still can't close my mouth after almost one and a half months, and my top lip extends further then it used to... I'm wondering if the incision line is or could be too high? It is like putting a piece of cotton under your front lip(next to your gums) and leaving it there. It is not a pretty site, it is almost as Homer Simpson. There is too much tissue blocking the lip from going down(the tissue is rubbing up against my gums at all time). Dr. Lam will this go down? The swelling is basically gone. The Doctor says that "the muscle" still needs to work, therefore enabling it to go back down. But somehow I don't believe him, seeing how my lip hasn't gone down in the past 4 weeks. I still go to school, and it weighs on my mind a lot. I would love if you could address this for me.

As for the bottom lip, he hardly took out any, and is unproportional to the top, but he said he can revise the bottom in a couple months.

I'm really unsatisfied, there is a lot of scar tissue and bumps that weren't there before.

I can send pictures of pre op and post op if you'd like, but I don't want to post them in the public.

I really do not like communicating with minors on this site. If you want to correspond with me further, please have your parents approve of this communication. I appreciate your disclosing your age. However, since you are still a minor, your parents really need to be involved with your care. If you want your parents to call my office 888-866-3388 to set up a consultation with me, then I can review your photos and discuss the matter with you. I would probably wait a few more months to let things heal before you would benefit from talking with me but discuss that with your parents or guardian.
best,
sml

My mom does approve of this, because she also wants to know if the doctor did something wrong. She's not adept at using computers, but we've tried consulting other doctors, so I wanted to ask someone who has expertise in these types of surgeries. I've already showed her your youtube videos, and she insisted that I ask for advice.

I appreciate your concern and want to help. However, the only way that I can do this is to do a phone consultation with your parents on the phone and a paid consultation fee ($100). I simply have serious issues with communicating with a minor via this forum. I'm sorry.

Alright, well, I just wanted to get some insight, from someone who knows about these kinds of procedures. Sorry for wasting your time, we would like to consult, but we are financially not capable of doing so.

Thanks anyway.

I apologize for the misunderstanding. Best wishes.

Hi Dr. Lam this is Adam's mom, my son is typing this, I would like if you could answer these questions. We do not know what to do, or if the doctor did not do a good job.

Sincerely,
Adam's Mom

i appreciate your mom's writing. here is one more policy that i need to emphasize (and that you see repeatedly almost every day), and i am sorry that i did not make this clear to you earlier: i do not comment on another surgeon's work during the early phases of healing. it is simply not fair to do that. let things heal at least 6 months from surgical date, then i can offer comment. have your surgeon work with you for now.
best,
sml

I understand. Can I ask, since you are very experienced in this field, if an incision can be too high up then? Will it interfere with a the muscles? Because I've read online a lot on people who have had this procedure done, never an instance where someone couldn't close their mouth.

hmm, that is a tough question. if a lot of lip is removed it will be harder to close your mouth regardless of your muscle. if a lot was removed, silicone microdroplets by an experienced injector can lower the lip back down. i emphasize experienced and someone using medical grade product. i don't know about the muscle.
best,
sml

Hmm thanks doctor, but it seems like the scar is making the lip go outward instead of down. Do you think if the scar is removed, that the lip will wall into place?

that is a possibility. i have seen that before from a patient done by another doc. give it time to heal now. it could be swelling too.

The swelling is all gone, there's about half an inch left of space where my mouth is open. The doctor refuses to fix it, without a fee of $200, but we don't think it's fair since he messed up the first time. My mom is upset. But anyway, do you think it's fixable the bottom lip is also really uneven.

Do you think we can fly to Dallas so we can get a revision, and how much would it cost.

it would cost much more than 200 for me to fix it. i have been asked kindly by my staff to stop posting prices. along those lines, you can email constanze@lamfacialplastics.com for an estimate for a lip reduction. i need to comply with my staff requests. i think it is a reasonable one.
best,
sml