Surgery · Mouth-corner results

Corner Lip Lift Before and After

What changes at rest, and when it can be seen

Gangnam, Seoul | Board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Jonghwan Choi
KHIDI-registered for international patients · Apgujeong Rewind

Corner Lip Lift Results Smile Lip Cases Corner Lip Lift Results Smile Lip Cases 
Change

Corner lip lift results

What changes in a corner lip lift comparison?

The short answer

One thing changes, and it is visible in a resting face: the direction the outer end of the mouth points. Rewind's Smile Lip excises slackened muscle together with redundant skin at the corner and re-fixes the corner above the mouth-corner muscle, so a pair of photographs taken under the same lighting shows the corner sitting on a different line while everything about the lip body stays as it was. Rewind publishes no standard millimetre of elevation, because the amount excised on each side is decided on the individual mouth against a reference lip proportion of 1:1.615. A comparison taken before the sutures come out at six to seven days shows swelling, and the swelling subsides gradually after that.

The surgical description, the suture window and the eating and mouth-opening limits on this page come from Rewind's own Korean page for Smile Lip. That page publishes no elevation figure, no operating time and no date on which a corner is judged settled, so this page supplies none of those either.

Two habits make a comparison worth looking at. The first is the resting face: a mouth held in a smile hides exactly the change this operation was performed for, and a photograph of a smile therefore proves the least. The second is the pair of corners together, since a mouth with a heavier drop on one side is corrected by taking different amounts from each corner, and a single-side crop leaves the balance unreadable.

Dr. Jonghwan Choi checking the corner of a patient's mouth before a design is drawn at Rewind Plastic Surgery
Fig. 01 — The comparison that counts starts with your own mouth at rest, measured at the chair
Cases

Patient photographs

Rewind's own Smile Lip cases, and why the frames are empty

Rewind photographs its own patients in the clinic. For the mouth corner the clinic has not yet released a case set for publication, so the frames below are held open for it. Filling them with a stock face or with a pair borrowed from a different operation would make this page worthless for the only purpose it has, which is showing you what this surgeon's work on a corner looks like.

Corner lip lift — case pairs reserved

BEFORE PHOTO
AFTER PHOTO
BEFOREAFTER
case — corner lift
Smile Lip, resting face, both corners in frame
Individual results may vary.
BEFORE PHOTO
AFTER PHOTO
BEFOREAFTER
case — corner lift
Smile Lip where the two corners sat at different heights
Individual results may vary.
BEFORE PHOTO
AFTER PHOTO
BEFOREAFTER
case — corner lift
Smile Lip planned alongside a second lip operation
Individual results may vary.

When the clinic releases a Smile Lip set, each pair will name every operation performed in that session, because a corner photographed after two operations is not evidence about one. Until then, ask at the consultation to see what exists in the clinic's records for a mouth like yours. What a case looks like is not what your mouth will look like: bleeding, infection, prolonged swelling, a line at the corner that stays visible, asymmetry once the swelling settles, altered sensation and a corner raised further or less far than intended are all possible, and no specific outcome can be promised.

Read

How to read a pair

Four things a corner lip lift comparison can be read for

A pair of photographs is a weak instrument used carelessly and a useful one used strictly. These are the four readings that survive scrutiny, and each of them depends on the two frames matching in everything except the surgery.

reading 01
The direction of the corner at rest
The change this operation produces. With the face at ease and the lips together, the outer end of the mouth points along a different line afterwards. Any pair in which one frame is relaxed and the other is holding an expression has already destroyed this reading.
reading 02
The balance between the two sides
Asymmetry is one of the presentations Rewind lists for the operation, and it is corrected by excising different amounts from each corner. A pair that keeps both corners in frame shows whether the sides were brought closer together; a crop of one side shows nothing about it.
reading 03
What the lip body is doing
A corner lift leaves lip volume alone. If a pair shows a fuller or slimmer lip body as well, a second operation was in the session, and the value of the comparison then depends on that operation being named. Lip reduction is the one most often planned alongside a corner lift.
reading 04
The point in recovery the frame was taken
Sutures come out at about six to seven days and swelling then subsides gradually, so an image from the first fortnight is a photograph of healing. Without an interval stated beneath it, a second frame cannot be placed on the timeline at all.
Stages

The interval matters

When a corner lip lift result can be judged, stage by stage

Rewind publishes four markers for this operation, and together they explain why the photograph most patients want to take is the one worth the least. The mouth is under instruction for weeks, and a corner under instruction is a corner still moving.

01Baseline

The frame the corner lift is measured against is taken beforehand

A resting photograph made at the consultation, with the face at ease and both corners visible, is the only reference your own comparison will ever have. Patients who arrive without one usually end up arguing from memory, and memory of a mouth corner is unreliable in both directions.

02Days 6–7

Sutures out, and a mouth corner still full of swelling

Rewind removes the stitches at about six to seven days, and states that swelling subsides gradually from that point. Gradually is the clinic's own word. A frame taken on the day the sutures leave is documentation of the operation and no kind of result.

03Weeks 1–2

The corner is working under restrictions during the first fortnight

Mainly soft food is asked for through the first one to two weeks. The restriction protects the fixation that holds the corner in its new direction, and a mouth eating carefully is also a mouth being held differently, which shows in photographs taken in that window.

041–2 months

Wide opening stays off the schedule while the corner settles

Counted from the day the stitches come out, wide opening of the mouth is avoided for one to two months. Large bites, wide yawns and dental appointments that hold the jaw open all belong in the plan made before a surgical date, and they mark the end of the period in which the corner is being actively protected.

05Afterwards

The line beside the corner keeps changing after the mouth is free

A closure beside the mouth goes on maturing long after the restrictions end, and how any surgical line matures differs between individuals. Rewind publishes no date at which a corner is declared final, so review visits with the operating surgeon are where that judgement is made, one visit at a time.

Dr. Jonghwan Choi explaining a surgical plan to a patient at consultation
Fig. 02 — Each review visit is where a corner is judged, against the frame taken at the start
Rewind

Why in movement

Why a Smile Lip is judged in movement and photographed at rest

A still frame answers one question about a mouth corner and cannot reach the second. The first is where the corner sits when nothing is happening. The second is what it does when you speak, eat and laugh, and that one is settled at the chair by watching, long before a camera is involved.

01Two readings

The corner lip lift is planned against movement and checked against stillness

Dr. Choi assesses both corners at rest and then in expression, because a design that only looks correct in repose announces itself the moment the face is used. The photograph records the first reading; the consultation is where the second one is made.

02One author

The surgeon who drew the corners is the one reviewing the photographs

Rewind runs as a single-surgeon practice. The person who decided how much tissue came from each side is the person comparing your review photographs with the baseline, which is what allows a small difference between the sides to be recognised as intentional or otherwise.

03Across distance

Reviews continue after the flight home

Patients who travel send photographs at the intervals agreed before they leave, taken at rest under even light so the frames stay comparable. Correspondence runs in their own language from the first message, at a clinic registered with KHIDI for foreign patients under Reg. M-2025-01-08-09288.

Consultation room at Rewind Plastic Surgery, Richro Building
Fig. 03 — Even light, same distance, same expression: the conditions a comparison needs
Record

How cases are recorded

How a mouth-corner case is photographed and kept at Rewind

Operating room on the clinic's own floors at Rewind Plastic Surgery

Fig. 04 — The operation itself, on the clinic's own floors in Apgujeong

Recovery area at Rewind Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong

Fig. 05 — Where the first hours after a corner lift are spent

Rewind occupies the fourth and fifth floors of the Richro Building in Apgujeong and photographs its own patients there. Every image that reaches this website is taken with the patient's consent and shown unretouched. Consultations run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 to 19:00 and on Saturday from 10:00 to 16:00, by appointment. The points below are what a usable mouth-corner comparison requires.

Resting face in both frames, lips together
Both corners in shot, never a single-side crop
Same distance, same angle, same even light
Every operation in the session named beneath the pair
Interval since surgery stated under the second frame
Photographed in the clinic, shown unretouched
Used publicly only where the patient has consented
Reviewed against the baseline by the operating surgeon
Dr. Jonghwan Choi, board-certified plastic surgeon at Rewind

Board-certified plastic surgeon

The mouth-corner cases held in this clinic's records were operated on by Dr. Jonghwan Choi, certified by the Korean board in plastic surgery and a member of the Korean Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. International patients are treated under KHIDI registration M-2025-01-08-09288.

Rates

Published rates

What the operation behind these corner lip lift frames is listed at

A comparison is worth reading beside the figure attached to it. These are the clinic's standard published rates for a first operation, and the second line is the one that changes what a pair of photographs is showing you.

Corner lip lift (Smile Lip)Both corners as one operation: design, minimal incision at the crease, excision, re-fixation above the muscle
₩1,700,000
Lip reduction, where the lip body is treated tooA separate operation that changes lip volume, so a pair from a combined session is showing two procedures
₩1,700,000
Sedation, where the surgeon calls for itListed on the clinic's sheet as its own item; the anaesthesia used for a given Smile Lip is not published
₩200,000

Listed figures carry the anaesthetic fee inside them and have VAT added on top. Where a plan holds two operations, the pair of photographs that follows it belongs to both, and each session is therefore named in full when a case is published. Work on a corner operated on before is quoted from the clinic's revision rates and confirmed only after examination.

Fit

Whose comparison shows most

Which mouths show the clearest change after a corner lift

Presentations where a resting frame carries the difference

  • Corners that turn down visibly with the face at ease, which is the presentation this operation was designed around
  • A measurable gap between the two corners, where bringing the sides closer reads immediately in a full-mouth frame
  • Corners that dropped after jaw surgery and have been stable for some time since
  • A lip body you are content with, so the frame shows the corner working on its own
  • Someone willing to be photographed at rest, at agreed intervals, for months after the operation

Where a comparison will disappoint, and the operation may be declined

  • An expectation set by an image of someone else's mouth: the design is taken from your proportion and your mouth shape, so the amount of elevation is not transferable
  • A complaint that is actually about lip volume, where the corner is already sitting correctly and lip reduction is the relevant listing
  • Heaviness in the lower face doing the pulling, which is assessed as mini facelift territory
  • Judging the corner from a smiling photograph, which hides the change and produces arguments no measurement can settle
  • Keloid or hypertrophic scarring in your history, since the line beside the corner is part of what a later frame will show
  • Active inflammation around the mouth, unsettled dental work, a clotting disorder, daily blood-thinning medication, pregnancy or breastfeeding
After

Between the frames

What happens to the mouth between the two corner lift photographs

The interval between a baseline and a usable second frame is spent under instructions, and the instructions are about how the mouth is used. Rewind's published notes cover the four stages below.

The suture week
Stitches out at six to seven days
The clinic removes sutures at about six to seven days and describes swelling as subsiding gradually afterwards. Patients who travelled hold the return flight until after that visit, so the surgeon who placed the sutures removes them and takes the first review frame.
The first fortnight
Soft food while the fixation holds
Mainly soft food for the first one to two weeks. Chewing loads the tissue that was excised and re-fixed, and the restriction exists for the fixation underneath before it exists for anything visible on the surface.
One to two months
A mouth that stays closed to wide opening
Counted from the day the stitches are removed, wide opening is avoided for one to two months. This is the period in which a corner can be pulled against its new fixation, and it ends before the line beside the corner has finished changing.
The months after
Review frames at agreed intervals
Once the restrictions lift, the corner is reviewed against the baseline at the intervals set in the plan. Patients at home send photographs taken at rest in even light; the operating surgeon reads them, and any concern is raised at that point, while it is still early.

Naming what can go wrong belongs on a results page more than anywhere else: bleeding, infection, prolonged swelling, a line at the corner that stays visible, asymmetry between the two sides once the swelling settles, altered sensation around the corner, tightness on wide opening, and a corner raised further or less far than intended. Any of those can lead to a further procedure quoted at revision rates. Outcomes differ between individuals and no specific result can be promised. Rewind publishes no figure for how long a raised corner holds its position, so none is stated here.

Doctor

Professional

Every mouth-corner case in this clinic's records belongs to one board-certified plastic surgeon, from the baseline photograph to the last review. A comparison is only as good as the consistency behind it, and consistency is what a single operator produces.

Dr. Jonghwan Choi, board-certified plastic surgeonRewind,
Dr. Jonghwan Choi presenting at an academic session
Fig. 06 — Presenting clinical work at an academic session

Rewind's Doctor

Dr. Jonghwan Choi Medical Director

A resting face is where
a mouth corner tells the truth.

A board-certified plastic surgeon in plastic surgery, with ten peer-reviewed papers indexed under his name and published work in craniofacial and facial reconstruction.

Board-certified plastic surgeon (Plastic Surgery)
10 peer-reviewed publications
Medical Director, Rewind Plastic Surgery
Korean Society of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons
Former chief director, Apgujeong Y&T Plastic Surgery
Korean Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
J Craniofac Surg · JKMS · Arch Craniofac Surg
Korean Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association
Voices

Google Reviews

What our patients say.

G 5.0 ★★★★★ 40 Google reviews · Rewind Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong — live-synced from Google Business Profile

"There are just way too many cosmetic clinics in Korea and I'm so happy I found Rewind Clinic in Gangnam. Dr. Choi was so kind and patient while explaining the different face-lifting options, from threads to mini-lifts to deep-plane lifts. I've had procedures in Taiwan and the US and now m…"

JJ. S.3 MONTHS AGO · POSTED ON GOOGLE

"Really nice environment. Doctor is easy to communicate and understands my visions. Waited two weeks to make a review and I confirm the results exceeded my expectations and I am super happy with it. Can't wait to come back!! :))"

KKristie Chu3 MONTHS AGO · POSTED ON GOOGLE

"I found Rewind clinic through a Korean chat forum and many local clients highly recommended it. The clinic is brand new, featuring large, clean rooms and many private waiting areas so it doesn't give off that "factory" clinic vibe. All the staff, including the receptionists, nurses, a…"

JJ. Siou3 MONTHS AGO · POSTED ON GOOGLE

"You know how you get self-conscious about your facial contours before going on vacation? I was wondering what I could do to see quick results, and a friend recommended Apgujeong Rewind Plastic Surgery. All the staff were friendly, and the facilities were incredibly pleasant—it felt like a hotel! Val…"

똑똑띠언니A MONTH AGO · POSTED ON GOOGLE · Translated by Google

"I went for a consultation for lip fillers and am leaving this review because I am so satisfied with the results. I told them about the lip line I had always wanted, and they carefully examined my face shape and features to naturally recreate a shape that suited me well. The director definitely has …"

WWang, Ziyuan(경영대학 경영학과) ­2 MONTHS AGO · POSTED ON GOOGLE · Translated by Google
Ask

Questions

Corner lip lift results — the questions patients bring to a consultation

How much do the mouth corners actually rise after this operation?
Rewind publishes no standard amount. The design is drawn against your own facial proportion and mouth shape, using a reference lip proportion of 1:1.615, and the tissue excised differs between the two sides of the same mouth. An elevation figure copied from an image of someone else has no meaning for your corner.
Does the face look different when I am not smiling?
That is precisely where the change sits. The operation alters the direction the outer end of the mouth points with the face at ease. A resting photograph is the frame worth taking. A smiling pair conceals the difference this surgery was performed to make.
When is a second photograph worth taking?
After the restrictions end. Sutures come out at about six to seven days, swelling subsides gradually from there, soft food covers one to two weeks and wide opening is avoided for one to two months. Frames taken inside that window record healing, and the clinic publishes no date at which a corner is called final.
Why are no corner lift cases shown on this page yet?
Rewind has not released a Smile Lip photograph set for publication. Borrowing a pair from a different operation or using a stock face would make the section actively misleading, so the frames are held open. Ask at the consultation what the clinic's own records hold for a mouth like yours.
How do I tell whether a comparison includes other surgery?
Check the lip body and the caption. A corner lift leaves lip volume alone, so a pair showing a changed lip body had a second operation in the session. Any case published here will name every operation performed at that sitting beneath the frames.
Will both corners end up at the same height?
The two sides are planned against each other and different amounts are excised to bring them closer; asymmetry is one of the presentations the clinic lists for this operation. Complete symmetry is not something any surgeon can promise, and asymmetry once the swelling settles remains a recognised complication.
Can the result look exaggerated?
An over-raised corner is a recognised complication and it is discussed before surgery. The clinic's position is that drawing the design from your overall proportion and your own mouth shape keeps the movement inside your range, and the amount to be taken from each side is argued at the desk while it can still change.
What do I send the surgeon once I have flown home?
Resting photographs in even light, taken at the same distance as the baseline, at the intervals agreed before you left. Review visits and correspondence run with the operating surgeon in your own language, so a corner that is behaving unexpectedly is examined early instead of at the end.
Booking

Reservation

REWIND,booking

Send a photograph taken at rest with both corners in frame, and we reply within one business day, in your language.

By sending this inquiry you agree that Rewind Plastic Surgery may use the details above to contact you about your consultation. We keep them only for that purpose.

Scientific evidence

What the literature reports about outcomes at the mouth corner

Three papers, chosen for what they say about measuring an outcome around the lip: a published description of the surgical corner-of-mouth lift, a systematic review of how lip-lift results have been reported and how thin that evidence base still is, and a single-technique series in which design and scar position are set out in detail. They study other surgeons' patients, not this clinic's, and a paper reporting a series says nothing about the mouth in your own photographs.