If you’re bothered by a furrowed brow and drooping eyebrows, a brow lift procedure may be just what the doctor ordered to give you a healthy, younger-looking look. Here’s how.
As you age, the pull of gravity can cause your eyelids, eyebrows, and forehead to droop and sag, so you appear perpetually tired or angry no matter how you feel. Fortunately, a brow lift can reverse gravity’s effects, at least for a while, helping you look younger and refreshed.
At 817 Surgical Arts, facial and cosmetic surgeon Dr. Emily Johnson and her team understand how hard it can be to look in the mirror and see a face that looks older and grumpier than you are. She uses brow lift surgery to raise the soft tissue around your brows and smooth out wrinkled skin on your forehead and the area surrounding your eyes, transforming your countenance.
She can perform brow lifts as a standalone procedure or combine it with other treatments, like blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) or a facelift (lower two-thirds of your face), to give you an entirely rejuvenated look. Regardless of your decision, Dr. Johnson uses an artistic approach that gives you natural-looking results with minimal scarring.
Types of Brow Lifts
Dr. Johnson uses various techniques to perform brow lifts.
Coronal (Classic) Brow Lift
Once the industry standard, the classic lift has fallen out of favor as less-invasive techniques have become available. However, it can still be used for some patients to help meet their desired aesthetic results. Dr. Johnson makes a single, long incision just behind your hairline, reaching from ear to ear. She removes excess skin, fat, and tissue, repositioning the brow muscles and remaining skin to give a more youthful appearance.
Endoscopic (Endoscopic Approach) Brow Lift
The endoscopic technique has recently been the go-to choice for brow lift surgery because it’s less invasive than the other techniques but still gives good results. Dr. Johnson makes several tiny incisions (less than an inch) behind the hairline to hide the scars. Then, she inserts very thin instruments just under the skin. She repositions the muscles and lifts the underlying forehead tissue. Dr. Johnson uses sutures or staples to close the incisions for all brow lift types. She usually removes them about one week following surgery.
Temporal or Limited-Incision Brow Lift
The temporal technique is most common if you’ve opted for a blepharoplasty along with your brow lift. Dr. Johnson makes one-inch incisions behind the hairline and just above each temple. She works through these small incisions to lift and reposition the outer brow tissue and the area between the eyebrows to smooth out frown lines.
The brow lift experience
Because Dr. Johnson primarily uses the endoscopic approach or temporal brow lift techniques whenever possible, your brow lift surgery and your recovery time are shorter compared with the other procedures.
She performs brow lifts at either a hospital or an outpatient surgery center, and you’ll receive either general anesthesia or a local anesthetic with intravenous sedation, depending on what the doctor feels is best for you. How long you’re out depends on whether you’re just getting the brow lift or you’re also having another procedure at the same time.
You can expect to feel some discomfort after the anesthesia wears off, and you’ll notice some tightness in the forehead area; however, you shouldn’t feel much pain. You can also expect some swelling and bruising, but they should diminish about 10 days after the surgery and be gone after about two weeks.
As the aftereffects recede, you’ll see a smoother brow and an eyes-wide-open expression that conveys warmth, alertness, and a sense of youth.
If you’re unhappy with the signs of aging around your forehead and brows, a brow lift can transform your countenance and give you a welcoming look that engages other people. To learn more or schedule a consultation with Dr. Johnson, call us at 817-241-5375 or book online today.