Womens Health in the News

The forehead or brow lift can help to reduce problems on the forehead and brow from the normal ageing process, as we get older deep furrows or lines crease the forehead and brows making us look older, sad, angry or tired. In the forehead or brow lift the surgery can smooth out the wrinkles and raise the eyebrows minimizing the frown lines.

Who can benefit from a forehead or brow lift?

This type of surgery is most commonly performed in people around the age of 40 to 60 to help reduce the visible effects of the natural ageing process, the surgery is also used to help people who have inherited problems such as low or heavy brow or deep furrowed lines above the nose. The surgeon may also suggest that you have eyelid surgery or a face-lift at the same time as you have the forehead lift.

The surgery and recovery time

In order to gain a better understanding of how you can benefit from a face-lift take a mirror and place your hands at the outer edge of your eyes and gently pull the skin up raising the brow and forehead.

This will give you a general idea of how the surgery would turn out if you chose to go with it. There are basically two different techniques to the forehead or brow lift and which one your surgeon chooses will depend on what your surgeon thinks will achieve the best goals for you.

The classic forehead lift

Before the operation your hair will be tied back away from the face, the surgeon will make an incision starting at the ear level and running up around the head and back down the other side to your other ear.

The scar it will leave won’t be visible as this is done well behind the hairline, the skin of the forehead is then lifted gently and the underlying tissue can be removed where needed and the muscles on the forehead altered.

The eyebrows can also be lifted and any excess skin can be trimmed away, the incision is then stitched and while most surgeons choose not to bandage the area some might wrap your head lightly.

The endoscopic forehead lift

This type of surgery requires the same preparation as the one listed above but the difference is that instead of making one long incision the surgeon will make four or five incisions on the scalp less than an inch in length. The surgery will then be performed using an endoscope which is a pencil like camera which is attached to a monitor.

The endoscope will then be used through one of the incisions and the surgeon can clearly see the muscles and tissue under the skin. Another instrument is used in one of the other incisions and the skin can then be lifted gently and the underlying tissue can then be removed or altered.

When the surgery is finished the small incisions will be stitched and washed and a piece of gauze used to cover the wounds if your surgeon chooses to do so. After the surgery some numbness or tingling may be felt and this will be replaced by itching as the skin heals. Most people are able to return to work within 10 days and patients who have had the forehead lift done by endoscopic may be able to return sooner.