Question:
I am a 62 year old woman interested in having a forehead lift. However, I have seen many people who look as if they have a “surprised” expression on their faces after having the procedure and I fear that I may look the same. How often does this happen and how can I be sure that this won’t happen to me?
Answer:
Patients develop a surprised look after a forehead lift because the surgeon was overly aggressive with the procedure. This is easily avoidable, however you must understand that the desired result from the lift is a subtle elevation of the brow and not to compensate for other issues by over-elevating the brow. Believe it or not some patients request their brow to be lifted to a level which is unnatural. We refer those patients to another surgeon. We are also conservative in selecting patients for a brow lift and believe that often the aging is not due to brow descent, but instead due to the brow fat pad decreasing in size and no longer filling out the skin of the brow and leading to the illusion of brow descent. The best way to understand this is to look at a photo of the patient in youth to determine the relative contribution of descent versus volume loss. In many cases we will use fillers of Restylane, Juvederm, Radiesse or autologous fat to rejuvenate the brow by adding the lost volume back to the area rather then lifting the brow. This creates a more youthful appearance without the unnatural look of an overzealous brow lift.
Posted by Dr. Buckingham
Question:
Is 24 too young to get a forehead lift? I have a very droopy brow area which I think is hereditary because my Mom and sisters do too. Is there anything else that would fix this?
Answer:
24 is pretty young. You would have to have a significantly low brow to convince me that a brow lift is right for you at that age. It would be a unique situation that would warrant surgical intervention. If however you truly do have a brow position that is significantly low then a brow lift would be the way, and likely the only way to improve the situation. A very thoughtful consultation would be indicated to see if that procedure would be right for you.
Posted by Dr. Buckingham
Holly,
Forehead lift is a generic term describing the area to be lifted. Endoscopic forehead lift describes the specific technique. In general a forehead lift can be performed via an open technique or endoscopically. The open technique can be performed through incisions above the brow, in the mid-forehead, at the hairline or behind the hairline. The latter three are all good techniques in the right patient, however the latter two have the disadvantage of creating more numbness and possibility for visible scarring. (In the right hands however they work great) We prefer an endoscopic technique for most of our female patients however because the technique offers the advantage of less scarring, less numbness and great results. The endoscopic technique involves making small incisions in the hair that are remote from each other. Through the incisions special curved instruments are passed that allow the brow to be elevated and held in position. There are examples of many endoscopic browlifts as well as some other techniques (in men) on the website. Please take some time to review the photos and give us a call or email for an appointment at your convenience.
Ed Buckingham
Karen,
Thanks for you question. We do not use endotines to fixate endoscopic browlifts so my experience with them is limited. However, they are completely absorbable over time. I cannot comment on your case specifically without visually inspecting the site, but if it is problematic I would encourage you to see your surgeon or if you like we would be happy to take a look at you. Please feel free to call.
Ed Buckingham
Janet,
What you are referring to is a coronal browlift. This procedure is still performed by some surgeons, but is much less popular now. Currently most browlifts are performed using endoscopic techniques. Occasionally open techniques, such as a coronal incision, are still perfomed, but usually with incisions at the front of the hairline not back in the hair as a coronal lift is. We feel the endoscopic technique is superior because the incisions are smaller, the swelling and bruising is less, the risk of scarring is much less, the risk of hairloss is less and the results are reliable and long lasting.
The social recovery for a browlift, ie. the time it takes to get back in the public eye, is 7-10 days. You will still have some swelling at that point, but the bruising and significant swelling will have subsided. The final result from a cosmetic standpoint is 6 weeks to 3 months. The risk of hairloss from an endoscopic browlift is rare and minimal, and in our hands always temporary.
I hope this has answered your questions. Please review our before and after photos and browlift section for more information. We would love to hear from you in person as well.
Ed Buckingham
