Lip Reduction Surgery Raleigh

If you feel your lips are too large or out of proportion to the rest of your features, you may feel self-conscious every time you smile, talk, or laugh. You may have even tried makeup tricks to reshape or minimize how large your lips look, only to feel frustrated with the results.

Fortunately, renowned plastic surgeon, Dr. Juan A. Ortiz provides lip reduction surgery in Raleigh—a specialized procedure not widely offered among other surgeons in the region. Dr. Ortiz has performed more than 150 lip reduction procedures, and patients travel from across North Carolina and surrounding states to seek his experience with this niche specialty. In his experienced hands, lip reduction surgery can reshape your lips to create a more balanced, proportionate appearance, so you can love the way you look and leave self-consciousness behind.

Lip reduction is really about bringing the lips back into balance with the rest of the face.
– Dr. Juan Ortiz

What Is Lip Reduction?

Lip reduction surgery, also called chelioplasty reduction, is a brief procedure to reshape and reduce the lip area. This procedure can be performed on either the upper or lower lip, or both, and while it’s more often performed when lips are naturally larger, it can also be used as a corrective for lips that have been increased to excess through fillers and scar tissue from injections.

Even when surgery is performed on both lips, the procedure is brief, often less than an hour and performed under local anesthesia. Small incisions are made on the inside of the lip and tissue is removed to decrease the overall size and create a less prominent shape. Dissolvable sutures are carefully placed to ensure symmetry and minimal scarring.

Once the procedure is complete, a bit of bruising and swelling is normal, and ice packs and over the counter pain medicine often helps with this. While it’s important to minimize talking, smiling, and laughing for the first day or two and eat soft foods for the first week, overall recovery is fairly mild.

Is Lip Reduction Surgery Right For You?

Lip reduction surgery may be right for you if your lips feel disproportionately large for your face, or if previous filler injections have left you with lips larger than you’d like. Good candidates are typically in good general health and have realistic expectations about their results.

Dr. Ortiz emphasizes precise shaping and proportion during every lip reduction procedure, ensuring your results align naturally with your overall facial balance rather than simply reducing size. During your consultation, Dr. Ortiz will evaluate your anatomy and goals to determine whether lip reduction, or a combination with another procedure, is the right approach for you.

Reviewed for clinical accuracy by Dr. Juan Ortiz on September 22nd, 2026.