Should You Get a Brow Lift?

Do you need a brow lift? Sometimes a doctor who feels that your drooping eyebrows are interfering with your vision prescribes them.  This is what happens when the flesh of the upper eyelids sag to the point that the eyelashes and eyebrows meet.  When sagging is this bad the wrinkles in the forehead can also have a corrugated look. In this case the brow lift (also known as the forehead lift) might also be covered by insurance. However generally it is considered to be a cosmetic procedure that smoothers out wrinkles and creases on the forehead and between the eyes.

Mostly a brow lift is conducted after the age of forty to combat the appearance of aging. However anyone of any age can have a brow lift if they have baggy eyes that interfere with your vision. In this case the brow lift may be done in conjunction with eyelid surgery.

A brow lift is performed by a qualified professional plastic surgeon that makes an incision from ear to ear across the crown of the head. A line of hair may be shaved along the incision point.  The surgeon then careful lifts the skin of the brow and removes some of the underlying muscle tissue. It is this muscle tissue pulling downward on the muscles that causes the brow to drop. The skin is pulled back to pull up the slack and extra skin is trimmed. The incision is then closed with metal clips or stitches.  The entire procedure lasts about one to two hours. It is usually performed on an outpatient basis with local anesthesia and sedatives that help relieve tension.

You will probably have to wear an elastic bandage for about three days after the procedure and any stitches or clips that you have are removed in a week to two weeks depending on what your plastic surgeon recommends. Until that time you are usually not allowed to wash your hair as soap could infect the wounds or you could dislodge the stitches or open the wounds with a scrubbing action.

Some medication for pain after a brow lift might be prescribed but it is not always necessary.  A lot of swelling around the cheeks and eyes is also normal but keep in mind that some people can look quite battered after this type of operation. You should count on taking two weeks off to recover from the surgery and during that two weeks you wouldn’t be doing any vigorous chores or heavy exercising (even jogging.)

A brow lift looks great on just about everyone except those that might have a very high hairline or a receding hairline. If you already have a high forehead and dislike the way it looks keep in mind that a brow lift is going to add even more height to it. Keep in mind too that a brow lift only corrects wrinkles on the forehead and that problems such as crow’s feet need to be treated by a different type of corrective technique such as laser resurfacing.  If you don’t smoke or drink your brow lift should last about a decade before signs of aging become apparent again.