“Please shorten my philtrum”

Recently, many people visit to the plastic surgery hospitals for having a consultation to shorten their philtrums’ length. As celebrities who have pretty philtrums, such as Song Hye Kyo, Suzy, Son Na Eun (A Pink), Zhuyu (Twice), have stood out from others, more people are willing to shorten their philtrums which could be a cause of the long face.

In 2000’s, the symbol of beauty was bilateral symmetry with oval shaped face which looks like Song Hye Kyo, Han Ye Seul, and Jun Ji Hyun. But, the symbol of beauty has changed. The balance of upper and lower face is now a standard to decide whether a person is a beauty or not. The reason why women’s interest in philtrum surgery has become high is because the length of philtrum not only affects the length of a whole face but also causes mismatch of facial regions.

ID Hospital Asian Beauty Center has surveyed 76 Korean patients who are concerned about unbalanced face and visited to ID Hospital. According to the survey, the average length of their philtrum was 25.7mm. In general, the plastic surgery specialists say that the ideal philtrum length is between 18mm~20mm. People who have been concerned about long and unbalanced face, usually have at least 5.7mm to 7.8mm longer philtrum than normal people’s philtrums.

The reason why long philtrum leads unbalanced face is that philtrum is placed in the middle under the nose so when others see you, philtrum is the first part where gets attentions from others and it is the part that affects your impression.

Usually, if you have the long philtrum, you look older than your actual age and your face looks longer. The length of philtrum tells you whether you have a baby face or old face.

Dr. Seung Il Jung (plastic surgery specialist) at ID Hospital Asian Beauty Center said “In these days, people prefer a baby face. The ideal proportion of philtrum and the length of lower jaw should be 1:2 to be recognized as having a beautiful face. The famous Korean actress Song Hye Kyo who has been performing in Korean drama called ‘The descendant of the Sun’ is known as a beauty of philtrum.

To prevent having a long philtrum caused by skin aging, you should stretch your face with using facial muscles, such as smiling. Try to pout your lip as much as you can and make the both cheeks slim then stay hold for 5 seconds, in reverse, try to puff off both cheeks and stay hold for 5 seconds. Try to repeat 2 sets more, and then tap facial muscles slowly with your fingers.

You can keep your health of philtrum if you do facial stretches during you wash your face in the morning and night, have abundant amount of water and moisturize your skin, and prevent sunlight by applying sun block.

Either your long philtrum is congenital or acquired, there is only way to shorten your philtrum; plastic surgery. However, if the focus is to shorten the length, it might affect your nostril, alar, and even your lip shape. Thus, it is important to find the right amount for incision based on your face proportion.

Dr. Seung Il Jung said “The latest standard of beauty is not only having big eyes, sharp nose, or oval shaped face but also having balanced face. Philtrum reduction surgery helps to improve disharmonized face but finding the balance for whole face is more important than shortening the length of philtrum.”


Original Article: Sports Joseon Life on 3/31/2016