subject: What is a Brow Lift? [print this page] What is a Brow Lift? What is a Brow Lift?
A brow lift is cosmetic plastic surgery that smooths out creases in the forehead. Most people who get brow lifts are from 40 to 70 years old, though sometimes younger people with prematurely drooping eyebrows get brow lifts. In some cases brow lifts are combined with other procedures like eyelid surgery or a facelift.
Brow lifts are typically performed at outpatient clinics, though they may be done in day-surgery centers or hospitals. Most of the time, a brow lift is done under local anesthesia with sedation, and the procedure requires one to two hours of time. Brow lift patients return home the same day. One of the more popular brow lift techniques is the endoscopic brow lift. It requires only a small incision, and results in quicker recovery, and less scarring and bruising.
To perform an endoscopic forehead lift, a number of very small incisions are made in the scalp. Through these, the surgeon inserts an endoscopic tool to be able to see inside the forehead and brows. He or she inserts another instrument into other incisions to lift the skin, removing excess skin, muscle, and fat. Once the entire forehead has been treated in this manner, the surgeon stitches or clips the incisions and applies gauze, usually all the way around the head. The stitches will be removed within 7 days.
While an endoscopic brow lift is less invasive than a conventional brow lift, patients experience some discomfort and numbness. There will also be swelling or unusual feelings of itching in the forehead. These all subside within a few days.
Endoscopic brow lifts aren't for everyone, however. With a conventional brow lift, the hair is trimmed and pulled back from where the incision is made. Surgeons choose areas along the hairline or along natural bone structure lines on the scalp for the incision to make them as inconspicuous as possible. In the traditional brow lift, there is one incision that goes from one ear, across the forehead, to the other ear. The surgeon lifts the forehead skin, removes the excess tissue, then repositions musculature and lifts the eyebrows. Any excess skin is trimmed away.
After the incision is sutured or clipped, surgical dressing is applied. A bandage may be placed all the way around the head for best results, but the bandages will be removed within two to three days after surgery. The sutures or clips will be removed within 14 days after surgery.
It is common for brow lift patients to experience pain, numbness, and headache after the surgery. Swelling is to be expected too. Any hair loss due to the procedure usually re-grows within two months.
