Brow lift

A woman's attractiveness is a combination of many details, and eyebrows play an important role in an attractive appearance. The shape and contours of the eyebrows determine the expression of emotions, the clarity of the gaze, and the harmony of the face as a whole. If, with age or for other reasons, unpleasant changes occur on the face, then often an eyebrow lift helps to eliminate the problem and restore former beauty.

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Indications for eyebrow lift

In most cases, eyebrow lifting is used to rejuvenate the appearance. It is no secret that with age, the skin (especially in the upper half of the face) becomes inelastic and flabby. This can lead to the following problems:

• drooping eyebrows;
• the appearance of pronounced wrinkles in the forehead area, near the eyebrows;
• the appearance of "crow's feet" wrinkles on the outside of the eyes;
• drooping skin over the upper eyelids.

Sometimes low-set eyebrows can be a congenital feature: in such a situation, a facelift is performed not for the purpose of rejuvenation, but to correct an individual defect in appearance.

Direct indications for the eyebrow lift procedure are:

• excess skin above the eye area;
• eyebrow ptosis (on one side or bilateral drooping);
• ptosis of the skin above the cheekbones;
• pronounced wrinkles in the forehead area and on the bridge of the nose.

The operation is not performed in feverish conditions, acute infectious diseases, or during periods of exacerbation of chronic inflammatory processes. Additional contraindications may include:

• inflammatory processes in the area of the operation;
• endocrine system disorders (thyroid disease, diabetes);
• oncological pathologies;
• severe cardiovascular diseases, hypertension;
• blood clotting disorders;
• complete loss of skin turgor.

Preparing for a Brow Lift

Where to start if you have decided to have an eyebrow lift? First of all, make an appointment with a doctor for a consultation. The doctor will examine your skin, assess the degree of the defect and determine the best method to correct the situation. Be sure to tell the doctor about any chronic or acute diseases, possible allergic reactions, and medications you are taking. If you have had facial plastic surgery before, tell him about that too.

It is advisable to quit smoking and stop taking medications containing acetylsalicylic acid 30-50 days before surgery.

Usually, on the day of the procedure, the doctor prescribes a prophylactic dose of antimicrobial and antiviral drugs: the medication regimen must be agreed upon in advance.

There is no need to trim or shave the hair in the incision areas.

Eyebrow Lifting Techniques

The coronal brow lift procedure is one of the most technically simple lifting methods. The doctor makes an incision at the hairline on the head. The separated skin from the forehead is pulled up, making the eyebrows higher. At the same time, the hairline edge is lifted, which makes the forehead look more open.

This type of forehead and eyebrow lift is not suitable for people with little hair or a high forehead: as a rule, it is recommended for people with a low forehead.

This surgical procedure requires a long recovery period. The suture is quite long, which sometimes affects the loss of skin sensitivity.

• Endoscopic eyebrow lifting is a minimally invasive technique using a micro camera and specific instruments. The technique of the operation consists of three to four small incisions (approximately 15 mm) in the scalp. After this, instruments with a camera are inserted subcutaneously. The latter is needed so that the doctor can monitor the progress of the intervention. The skin is carefully separated, the muscle tissue is pulled together using biological threads and fixed in a certain place.

This operation involves minimal damage to the skin, so the risk of bleeding is almost zero. In addition, the likelihood of injury to nerve fibers and hair follicles is reduced. Excess tissue is not removed during the operation, but distributed over the surface of the regenerated area. The intervention is relatively short, and the rehabilitation period is also short.

Thread brow lift is not suitable for elderly patients, as in most cases, if the skin elasticity is impaired, the procedure will not give a visible result. Biological threads can be used in patients with bald spots and a high open forehead area, as the operation leaves virtually no traces.

• Temporal brow lift is the process of making incisions at the temporal zones on both sides. Excess layers of skin are pulled and removed without affecting the interbrow area. This type of surgery is suitable for those who want to lift the drooping outer edges of the eyebrows. The procedure is often combined with endoscopic thread lifting, which allows you to give your eyebrows an ideal shape.
• The midline lift procedure is a surgical intervention in which an incision is made in one of the deep wrinkles in the middle of the forehead. Excess tissue is removed, which visually reduces the forehead area. The midline lift is most often performed on elderly patients with pronounced forehead folds.
• The brow lift procedure is an operation with an incision above the eyebrow line, copying their natural curve. This operation is considered technically complex, so only specialists with sufficient experience undertake it.
• The transpalpebral lifting procedure, or upper eyelid lift, involves making an incision in the natural fold above the upper eyelid. This method is especially effective for getting rid of wrinkles on the bridge of the nose and forehead. The scar after the operation is completely invisible, and the effect is comparable only to Botox (but there is an advantage here: the result lasts much longer).

• The method of smoothing the bone protrusion above the eyebrows allows you to get rid of the effect of deep-set eyes. The operation is similar to the coronary lifting technique. The procedure lasts about 1 hour, general or local anesthesia is used. The patient returns home a day after the intervention.
• Brow lift with Botox is used to get rid of wrinkles located in the space between the eyebrows. This is an injection procedure, which is an alternative to surgical eyebrow lift: the defining difference is that botulinum toxin injections do not provide a lasting effect, and the procedure will have to be repeated at least once a year. The fact is that the injected neurotoxin completely leaves the tissues after 7-8 months after the procedure. Surgical plastic surgery, on the contrary, in most cases gives a lifelong result.

Recovery period after brow lift

The longest recovery period is typical for the coronary lifting method – it averages from 2 to 3 weeks. With endoscopy, rehabilitation is reduced to one week.

After a standard operation, numbness in the suture or forehead area, itchy skin, swelling or hematomas sometimes appear. Such consequences usually disappear on their own within a month.

Postoperative pain is usually not typical. Hair growth in the suture area may be temporarily disrupted, but after some time, the hair follicles are restored.

Any stitches are usually removed after 7-10 days. If drainage was installed during the operation, it is removed after 1-2 days.

During the entire recovery period, you should sleep on a high pillow to avoid postoperative tissue swelling. After 4-5 days, you can wash yourself in a cool shower. Sunbathing, visiting a bathhouse and sauna, drinking alcohol and smoking are temporarily prohibited, as this can cause hemorrhages at the site of the intervention.

The true result of the facelift can be assessed approximately 3-5 months after the final regeneration. The following effects become noticeable:

• wrinkles in the forehead and bridge of the nose area are smoothed out;
• eyebrows are raised;
• the forehead becomes more open;
• the face is visually rejuvenated.

Despite the effectiveness of the listed eyebrow lifting methods, all patients need to take into account possible complications after the procedure. Problems occur relatively rarely, but it is necessary to know about them. Among the most common complications are the following:

• transient loss of skin sensitivity in the area of the operation;
• facial asymmetry;
• displacement of the hairline border backwards;
• damage to hair follicles resulting in patchy alopecia;
• damage to nerve fibers;
• hemorrhages into nearby tissues;
• violations of facial expressions;
• allergy to drugs used for pain relief;
• infection.

During the preliminary examination, the doctor must necessarily assess the degree of contraindications and the possibility of developing negative consequences after surgical plastic surgery. If the doctor discovers any risks, he must warn the patient about this in advance.

Eyebrow lifting is often prescribed in combination with blepharoplasty and liposuction procedures. Also, if necessary, hair transplantation is performed on areas with damaged hair follicles. Additionally, surgical lifting can be combined with mesotherapy, Botox injections and chemical facial peeling.