Brow Lift Procedure

By Sherri Bankley

A brow lift procedure can restore a youthful look to your upper face and your eyes. Many people who think they need cosmetic eye surgery may be surprised to find that a brow lift will actually serve them better, opening and enlivening the entire eye, rather than just the lid.

Types of Brow Lift Procedures

In a brow lift procedure, the surgeon rearranges or removes some of the muscles and tissue in the forehead, pulls up the skin a bit and, after cutting off the excess, refastens it with sutures or clips, usually behind the hairline.

There are two way of doing the cutting for a brow lift procedure. One is the traditional way of making an incision all the across the head near the hairline and peeling back the skin to reach the site of the surgery. The other is a method called endoscopy, which has long been used in abdominal surgery, but is a fairly new in the cosmetic field.

Making use of an endoscope, a long, flexible fiber optic tube attached to a tiny camera, and inserted just under the skin, the surgeon can see the area he or she wants to excise before he or she uses any other tools. Instead of making a long incision and exposing the entire region, he or she makes a few small incisions, just big enough to insert his or her instruments. Guided by the endoscopic picture, he or she can manipulate the scalpel and other tools without a lot of bleeding and sutures.

Hiding Scars and Lifting Spirits

The brow lift procedure may be done by itself, or along with a face or eyelid lift. Talk to your doctor about what combination is right for you.

While the endoscopic method leaves almost no permanent marks, the conventional method does leave some scars. They are usually hidden behind the hairline (for women) or right at it (for men). However, even people who don't have hair can have a brow lift procedure. The doctor may be able to hide to scars by making the incisions along the natural ridges of the skull.

A simple brow lift is one of the easiest and safest ways to take years off your appearance through surgery. It is most often done on an outpatient basis and stitches or staples come out within two weeks. You will probably be back at work within ten days, and you can resume most normal activities within a few weeks. The only long-term symptom may be an itchy scalp. This subsides after about six months, and is much less bothersome to endoscopy patients.

Plastic surgery performed by an experienced professional can be a life-changing experience. Procedures such as the placement of breast implants, facelift, and rhinoplasty can produce dramatic yet natural-looking results.