A brow lift or forehead lift can help reverse the effects of gravity and help tighten the soft tissues of the forehead to restore a more youthful contour to your forehead, upper eyelids, and eyebrows. Dr. Iyengar strives to provide natural results with the latest brow lift methods.
A youthful brow at rest should be positioned above the orbital rim. This is the bony rim that you feel under eyebrow. They should have a gradual upward lateral arch so that end of the brow should be located higher than the rest of the brow. It is common for the brow to begin to assume a horizontal or flatter position as one ages. If you are noticing that sagging brows are impacting your facial expression, an eyebrow lift could be beneficial to rejuvenating your appearance.
Give Your Droopy Brows A Lift
Brow ptosis is also termed droopy brows. Brow ptosis is usually an age-related finding where the brows rest lower due to aging changes we see from the forehead and brow area. Dr. Iyengar has received extensive training the eyelid and brow areas to provide you the best result in eyelid and brow rejuvenation surgery brow lifting is often done at the same setting of a cosmetic eyelid surgery. Some patients may desire only a very small eyebrow lift (1-2 mm) while others may require a larger lift. In either case, Dr. Iyengar strives to provide natural result where the brows do not appear overdone or un-natural.
There are several types of brow lifting procedures that Dr. Iyengar performs, and each one is specific to the patient’s desired results, examination findings, age, and gender.
Types Of Brow Lifts
Eyebrow shape differs between males and females; males have relatively minimally arching brows that rest right above the bone of their orbit. Females tend to have a more dramatic arch to their brows (especially laterally) and they tend to rest above the bone of their orbit. With age, the shape and position of the brows changes. For these differences, Dr. Iyengar views the brows and their treatment very differently among males and females. Not all patients benefit from brow ptosis repair even if their brows may suggest some mild droop to them in position. Over-correcting a brow can often result in an “overdone” surgical appearance and the surgeon needs to work closely with the patient to educate them about the expectations and results from a brow lift.
The following will describe the various types of brow lifting procedures that Dr. Iyengar can offer to you depending on your examination findings and what you and Dr. Iyengar feel is best fit for you and your expectations:
1) Endoscopic Brow Lift:
Endoscopic brow or forehead lift use small incisions in your scalp to lift the brows and forehead to a higher position. By carefully using an endoscope to visualize the surgery through the small incisions made in the scalp, Dr. Iyengar elevates the brow to a higher position, anywhere from 3-5mm in improvement. The lateral scalp incisions help elevate the lateral brow and the forehead itself is elevated and fixated by either sutures or dissolvable implants. Dr. Iyengar prefers using the Endotine fixation devices which offer excellent elevation and stability of the brow position. These are small implants that help fixate the forehead and dissolve in several months. The surgeon places the implants flush to the hair baring scalp area. This procedure is best for patients who want to rejuvenate the appearance of their brows and forehead. You can combine a endoscopic brow lift with an upper or lower eyelid blepharoplasty.
2) Temporal / Lateral Brow Lift:
Some patients do not wish to have their entire forehead and brows lifted but rather wish to have the lateral portion of their brow lifted. This procedure elevates the lateral portion of the brow to allow for a more naturally appearing brow contour in those that have a flattened brow contour with age. This is a great procedure for those that just want their lateral brow raised by a few millimeters. This procedure incorporates the same lateral-based incisions used in an endoscopic brow lift but Dr. Iyengar does not elevate and fixate the forehead as he would do in a traditional endoscopic forehead or brow lift. A common combination of surgeries are lateral eyebrow lifts and upper or lower eyelid blepharoplasty.
3) Brow Pexy:
In cases where the patient and Dr. Iyengar desire a minimal re-suspension to the brows (1-2mm), a browpexy procedure is often adequate. A browpexy procedure is performed at the same time as a blepharoplasty; in fact, the same incision is used to perform the browpexy. Dr. Iyengar carefully places a series of internal sutures that allows for the brow to be repositioned to a higher position. Although the lift is not as profound as seen in cases of endoscopic brow lifts or lateral brow lifts, this procedure can offer great benefit to many patients. You and Dr. Iyengar can discuss this technique as an alternative to an endoscopic brow lift or lateral brow lift.
4) Direct Brow Lifts:
In these cases, an incision is made above the lateral portion of the eyebrows and skin is directly excised and then the incision is closed with sutures to allow for a direct lift. We have recently made modifications such that a smaller area of the forehead/brow skin is excised so that the brow is adequately elevated and the incision heals extremely well. I tend to perform direct brow lifts in those individuals with severe brow ptosis (i.e. facial nerve or bells palsy) or males with very heavy brows that would not have quite a benefit from the procedures mentioned above. The incision heals incredibly well and usually hides within the eyebrow itself or just above the eyebrow within one of the forehead wrinkles.
Are You A Good Candidate For A Brow Lift?
The following are some common reasons why you may want to consider a brow lift:
- The outside of your brows sag significantly
- The central portion of your brow hangs down
- You have apparent frown lines between the eyes
- If you wear makeup and notice that you are unable to apply makeup to the upper eyelid. This is a result of the surface area being obscured by dropping tissues that have aged.
- Excess skin above of the upper eyelid
