Forehead lifts and Browlifts for Periorbital Rejuvenation
When we are young, our forehead is smooth with thick skin. As we age, our foreheads develop lines, the brows droop, and we begin to look tired, angry, or old. Signs of aging include horizontal crease lines, scowl lines between the eyebrows, droopy eyebrows, and hooding of the eyelids. If you have any of these forehead problems, the good news is that all can be improved, mainly by a variety of surgical techniques. Forehead surgery is best when the brows needs to be actually lifted to get a better appearance of the eyebrows and eyelids. Botox and microdermabrasions are best when scowling between the eyebrows is the main issue.
There are three approaches to surgical brow lifting, all of which are determined primarily by two factors; what is the length of your forehead and how much muscle work needs to be done. The endoscopic browlift is a good choice if you are relatively young, your forehead length (distance between your eyebrows and frontal hairline) is not too long, and only a limited amount of muscle resection needs to be done. The coronal browlift is used when the forehead length is not too long but an extensive amount of muscle work needs to be done. The scar is back in the hairline and the amount of browlifting is done at the expense of a strip of scalp hair being removed. The coronal lift requires that the patient have a good density of hair and is willing to accept a scar across the top of their scalp. When the forehead length is already long, a hairline browlift is a good option. It has the advantages of allowing extensive muscle and skin resection to be done but not at the expense of lengthening the forehead. In many cases, the forehead length can actually be shortened while lifting the brows at the same time.
In some patients, we go through Botox treatments first to determine if this non-surgical approach will provide enough of a result from a temporary ‘chemical’ browlift to avoid surgery.
The key to a good browlift is not too overdo it. The goal of browlifting is to look younger and more refreshed, not surgically altered. A refreshed look is the key, not a ‘deer in the headlights’ look.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indianapolis