Eyebrows play a huge role in framing our faces and defining our features. However, as we age, that face-framing effect often starts to fade as wrinkles appear around the eyes and the brow line takes on a heavier, drooping appearance. A low-lying brow can also create a perpetual angry or tired appearance that may be frustrating and dampen your self-confidence! Rejuvenating the brow area can alleviate these concerns and help you put your best face forward!
What is a brow lift?
A brow lift, also known as a “forehead lift,” is a popular surgical procedure that helps bring back a youthful appearance by reducing wrinkles, frown lines, and any excess skin or fat in the area. Perhaps you have shied away from getting brow lift surgery for fear of an invasive procedure? Dr. Goffas performs a minimally invasive brow lift procedure that provides excellent results without the worry of scarring, extensive surgery, and downtime.
Benefits of a brow lift
A brow lift raises the brow line to a natural position to achieve a lighter, more youthful appearance and also offers additional upper-face enhancements:
- Corrects uneven brows for a balanced appearance
- Restores the natural arch of your brows
- Removes excess skin for a smoother forehead
- Creates a more open-eye look
- Eliminates a confused, tired, or angry expression
- Reduces sagging of the upper eyelids
- Diminishes signs of aging in the upper face
- Provides long-lasting results
Note that while an eyelid lift has some of the same benefits for certain patients, it is a distinct procedure from a brow lift. In your consultation, Dr. Goffas can help you determine which procedure will best meet your goals.
Brow lift procedure
A brow lift can be performed under general anesthesia or IV sedation, and there are several brow lift techniques your cosmetic surgeon will personalize based on your aesthetic goals and unique anatomy and physiology.
Whichever technique you choose, brow lifts can typically be combined with facelifts or other facial rejuvenation for more comprehensive results.
Brow lift techniques
Generally, each brow lift technique consists of small incisions within the hairline to reposition the brow line in a natural position on the face, tighten the underlying musculature, and remove excess skin and fat. Once a smoother, lifted contour is achieved, the small incisions are sutured. Most brow lift surgeries take between 1-2 hours to complete.
Types of brow lift techniques include:
- Coronal brow lift—this is the classic or traditional brow lift that uses an incision across the top of the head from ear to ear, hidden within the hairline. The resulting scar may be more extensive; however, it can achieve ideal brow lift results for the right patient.
- Endoscopic brow lift—uses several small incisions within the hairline. A tiny endoscopic camera is inserted through one of the incisions to examine the underlying muscles and tissues while other small incisions are used to reposition the brow tissue.
- Temporal brow lift—also called a mini brow lift, uses two tiny incisions placed within the hairline near the temples to raise the outer brow and upper eyelid skin. The technique creates a more open-eye appearance and does not disturb the forehead muscles.
- Hairline brow lift—an incision is made between the top of the forehead and the beginning of the hairline. This allows skin and tissue to be removed from the top of the forehead to avoid creating an unnaturally high hairline.
- Direct brow lift—rejuvenates the brow using incisions hidden within the eyebrows. This technique is much less common but may be ideal for a patient with a compromised hairline, but who has thicker eyebrows to conceal the incisions.
Each technique has unique advantages; Dr. Goffas will examine your hairline and discuss your family history of hair loss to ensure he selects the optimal brow lift procedure to help your scars be as inconspicuous as possible over time.
Brow lift recovery
Brow lift recovery is relatively standard across each technique. Once surgery is complete, Dr. Goffas will cover the incisions with bandages and may wrap your forehead to minimize swelling. You’ll be asked to sleep on your back with your head slightly elevated for a few days after your surgery and sutures are usually removed after 7-10 days during your follow-up appointment. After about 2-4 weeks, Dr. Goffas will likely clear you for non-strenuous daily activities, though mild swelling may still persist for a few more weeks.
Brow lift results
Brow lift results are visible immediately after surgery and will continue to improve as swelling resolves over the next several weeks. Your final brow lift results for most techniques will be apparent around the 3-month mark. Final results with endoscopic and temporal brow lifts are usually visible within 3-4 weeks.
Brow lift scars
Dr. Goffas is careful to place incisions so resulting scars are hidden by your hair. If a patient has a receding hairline or has a family history of hair loss, Dr. Goffas will choose a brow lift technique and incision sites to accommodate a thinner or receding hairline.
Is a brow lift right for me?
A brow lift may be the right procedure for you if you are a non-smoker in general good health and have any of the following indicators:
- A low-lying or heavy brow that may give you an angry, confused appearance
- Saggy upper eyelids exacerbated by a droopy brow, which makes you look tired and may impair your vision
- Crow’s feet and deep forehead lines that make you appear older
A personal consultation with Dr. Goffas will help determine if a brow lift is the right procedure for you.
Endoscopic Forehead Lift, Brow Lift, Facelift, or Fat Grafting: Which is better for me?
Video transcript
“Depending on the patient’s age, if they’re younger and their aging in the forehead isn’t extensive, and as long as the eyebrow hairs aren’t underneath the orbital rim, which is the bone surrounding the eye, then we might use something that’s less invasive called an endoscopic forehead lift. You make several small incisions in the scalp, lift the scalp, and then secure it with the use of these small fixation devices. The advantage of the procedure is that it’s fairly quick, has easier downtime, and you probably get people back to work within a week or so. It helps if you don’t need a significant improvement.
Now, if you’re looking at an older patient, especially men and even some women where the eyebrow hairs are below the orbital bone and there isn’t much space between the eyelashes and the brow, then you’re looking at more of an open procedure. You make incisions in the scalp, bring that tissue back, and then tighten it. The advantage of that is it’s a longer-lasting procedure. I’ve never had to redo a brow lift, an open type procedure, but it’s a much stronger and better result. But it’s like anything else; there’s a higher recovery rate to it. You probably would need a minimum of two weeks to recover, depending on the person.
So those techniques in the upper face are good. In the lower and mid-face, there are several different techniques you can use for rejuvenation. The simplest is skin excisions. They’re easy, quick, and kind of the weekend facelift procedure of old. The advantages are that they’re quick, easy to recover from, and there isn’t much risk or much recovery, but you won’t get as strong of a result.
As people get older, you’ll start to notice that their fat pad and their buckle fat pad will get droopier or larger, and they’ll get weakness in their muscles and their skin laxity as well. With patients like that, you have to do more of a deep plane facelift because it’s just a longer-lasting lift, addressing all the factors — ligaments, fat pad, and tightening up the skin. Those are longer recovery procedures, usually a couple of weeks, but it’s the longest and strongest-lasting facelift that we have.
It can also be used more with smokers because you’re not really thinking that the skin’s doing most of the work; it’s more of the deeper tissues, and the skin’s just kind of along for the ride. Those are similar procedures that we would use in the neck too. You can do small excisions and submentoplasties if you don’t need much, but usually, the gold standard would be incisions behind the ear, and you can tighten up the neck with impunity. I don’t think there’s anything in any area that you can overtighten in a neck, whereas a face, you could do some bad results if people look like they’ve been through a wind tunnel. But a neck, I try and tighten as tight as I can, and I tell patients that it’s going to be very tight after. But that’s probably how it was when you were 20, you know, so you just have to get used to that a little bit.
All these different surgical procedures are intertwined with potentially fat grafting from the patients. A lot of times, now we know that we lose bone density as we get older, people get shorter and all that, and hunched over. But probably we lose a fair amount of bone in the face too. Since we can’t really replace the bone, a lot of times, we’ll use implants or the patient’s own fat. Most patients like their own fat, and I like it too because it’s a little more natural than an implant. So we’ll use that as well. If they have too much fat in their face, we’ll suction some of the fat out. Those different types of procedures are very individualized; not every patient is getting the same surgery. They’re getting a surgery that’s just right for them.”–Dr. George T. Goffas
Is a brow lift safe?
There is some risk involved with every surgical procedure—the risks of brow lift surgery may include:
- Bleeding
- Infection
- Poor scarring
- Elevated hairline
- Asymmetric results
- Facial nerve damage
- Fluid accumulation (seroma)
- Hair Loss around the incisions
- Changes in skin sensation (numbness or intense itching)
- Anesthesia risks
Choosing a board-certified cosmetic surgeon ensures you are being cared for by a physician who has spent years training exclusively in cosmetic surgery procedures and has passed rigorous criteria to demonstrate a mastery of surgical skills and a commitment to the ethical practice of cosmetic medicine. This also affirms your surgery will take place in an AAAHC-accredited Surgical Center to ensure your safety and privacy.
Can I combine a brow lift with other procedures or treatments?
Yes, there are several procedures that complement a brow lift for more complete facial rejuvenation results.
- Eyelid surgery, also known as a blepharoplasty, can reduce under-eye bags and tighten the skin of the upper and/or lower eyelids for a more alert and youthful appearance. A brow lift and eyelid surgery performed together can achieve stronger, natural-looking results that work synergistically to address cosmetic and medical concerns.
- Facelift, or rhytidectomy, lifts and tightens the lower, midface, and neck areas, minimizes signs of aging, and repositions fallen fat pads to restore youthful volume to take years off your appearance. Rejuvenating both the upper face with a brow lift and the midface with a facelift is a comprehensive approach to addressing your facial aesthetic goals.
- Laser skin resurfacing treatments use controlled laser energy to improve the appearance of the skin’s surface to finetune the transformative effects of surgical facial treatments. Lasers can reduce the appearance of pores, scars, dark spots, broken capillaries, and pigment irregularities that cannot be addressed by a brow lift or any combination of surgical procedures.
- Chemical peels are a non-invasive treatment option to deeply exfoliate your skin to remove the dull, damaged outer layer to improve skin imperfections, and encourage your natural collagen and elastin production for healthier, more youthful-looking skin.
- Injectables such as Botox® and dermal fillers can help extend the anti-aging results of a brow lift and other facial procedures. Botox is injected into targeted muscles to temporarily relax muscle contractions that cause expression lines. Dermal fillers can add youth volume, fill in static lines and wrinkles, and can be used to augment the lips.
Brow lift FAQs
Is an eyebrow lift the same as a brow lift?
Yes, the terms “eyebrow lift” and “brow lift” are often used interchangeably to refer to a cosmetic surgery procedure designed to raise the brow line and forehead.
Are eyebrow lift results permanent?
Eyebrow lift results are generally long-lasting, but not necessarily permanent. For many patients, the results last 10 years or more. However, it’s important to note that a brow lift does not stop the aging process. Over time, natural aging, gravity, and environmental factors such as sun exposure can contribute to changes in facial skin and tissues.
This is why some patients opt for non-surgical treatments like Botox or fillers in the years following a brow lift to maintain the desired aesthetic and address any minor sagging or wrinkles that develop in the brow area over time.
Will an eyebrow lift correct hooded eyelids?
An eyebrow lift can indirectly affect the appearance of hooded eyelids by elevating the position of the eyebrows. This elevation often reduces the amount of skin that might droop over the upper eyelids, creating a smoother eyelid contour.
For those specifically looking to correct hooded eyelids caused by excess skin on the upper eyelids, Dr. Goffas will recommend eyelid surgery to remove or reposition excess skin and fat around the eyelids.
Brow lift in St. Clair Shores, MI
If you are interested in learning more about brow lifts and your other facial rejuvenation options, Dr. Goffas would be happy to meet with you, discuss your aesthetic goals, and create a surgical plan optimized for results you will love! Proudly serving the St. Clair Shores, Detroit, and Grosse Pointe areas, we invite you to call our office at (586)773-6900 or contact us online today!
Areas served:
- St. Clair Shores
- Detroit
- Grosse Pointe
