Forehead Lift

It is possible to revitalize drooping and lines foreheads and remove the look of anger, sadness or tiredness from your face with a browlift. The procedure can be performed with either a traditional or endoscopic (minimally invasive) procedure. During the browlift, the muscles above the eyes are altered or removed to provide smooth lines and raise the eyebrows to a more youthful state. This is usually done with the blepharoplasty procedure or with a facelift to improve the overall look of the face.

Most browlifts are performed on patients who are between the ages of 40 and 60 to reduce the effects of aging. However, anyone who has lost elasticity – whether it is as s result of muscle activity or genetics – can get the procedure. It is performed either in a surgical center or in an office based facility under local anesthesia and sedation.

If you are unsure about how a browlift will make you look, stand in front of a mirror and by placing your palms on the sides of your eyes above the eyebrows pull back your skin. This will raise your forehead and give you an idea of how the procedure will make you look.

Browlifts can be done in the conventional manner, with an incision being placed under the hairline (and for people who have a receding hairline or are bald, the incision will be made in another inconspicuous area), or with an endoscope, where a small camera and instruments are inserted with the help of a few incisions. Both these procedures produce similar results and your surgeon will discuss the better option for you with you.

Note: For those patients who have very short hair, it might be better to let it grow before the surgery so the healing scar can be hidden.

Traditional browlift: After tying the patient’s hair with rubber bands next to the incision site, the surgeon will make a coronal (headphone-shaped) incision behind the hairline which will stretch between the ears and across the top of the forehead. The position of the incision can be changed for patients with receding hairlines, so that it can be made along the skull bone joints. The forehead skin is then lifted and tissue is removed. After this, the muscle is adjusted and the eyebrows are lifted. The extra skin is taken off and the incision is closed. The site is then washed and the rubber bands are removed. Some surgeons will use gauze or bandages to protect the stitches.

Endoscopic browlift: In the endoscopic procedure, the surgeon ties the hair back in the same way as the traditional procedure, then make three to five small incisions (about an inch long) behind the hairline. He or she will then place the endoscope so that it is possible to see under the skin without having to make a large incision, and will lift and tighten the skin through these small incisions. Eyebrows that are lifted will be stitched or screwed (temporarily) into position. The area is then washed and the hair is reopened. The surgeon will protect the stitches using gauze or bandages.

Patients undergoing traditional surgery might experience a little numbness and soreness at the incision. The numbness might be replaced with itching, but it will go away in six months. The head will need to be elevated for a few days after surgery to decrease swelling. Bandages will be taken off in one or two days and the stitches will be removed after two weeks. It is possible that hair next to the incisions will fall or thin out, but normal growth will resume within a few weeks.

Patients undergoing the endoscopic procedures may also experience some numbness and discomfort as well as swelling around the incisions but they should experience less itching than traditional surgery patients. The stitches will be removed in one week and the fixation screws in two.

With either procedure, the patient can be on their feet and able to wash their hair in two days and most patients can return to their normal routine in seven to ten days. The swelling and bruising should go down in three weeks.

Complications as a result of this surgery are not common but can include temporary numbness, injury to the nerves, loss of hair on incision sites, presentation of a wide scar which will be corrected via surgery, infection and bleeding.

To get more information on our Forehead Lift procedure, contact our office today.