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Direct Browlift

Popular procedure for men and women wishing to reduce wrinkles and return a more rested, youthful look to their foreheads, this is often performed in conjunction with a face lift, eyelid surgery, dermal fillers, and/or skin treatments.

The Procedure

Typically performed under general anesthesia or local anesthesia with sedation, the brow lift procedure may take one to two hours. In its various formats, the coronal forehead lift has an incision starting at ear level running across the top of the head and down to the other ear. Hair will normally camouflage the scar since the incision is made well behind the hairline.

The mid-scalp or hairline lift technique is commonly recommended for people with high hairlines or high foreheads. In this, the incision is made at the junction of the forehead skin and the hairline and runs over the top of the head and from side to side. This avoids raising the hairline any higher when elevating your brow area.

In both the coronal and mid-scalp technique, the skin is lifted so that the underlying tissue can be removed and the muscles of the forehead released. Eyebrows are also lifted and the excess skin near the incision will be trimmed.

Another popular technique is called an endoscopic forehead lift. This utilizes three to five incisions within the hair about three fourths inch in length. A miniature video camera and a fiber-optic instrument relays images to a monitor by the endoscope. The forehead skin is lifted and repositioned, but not removed, and the muscles of the brow are partially resected. Eyebrows are lifted and secured into a higher, more youthful position by one of several types of absorbable devises beneath the surface of the skin and by absorbable microscrews beneath the scalp.

The lateral brow lift focuses on improving the lax skin and crow’s feet around the outer sides of the eyebrows and eyes. Incisions are placed in the hairline at the temples and excess skin is trimmed.

With each of these techniques, upon completion of the procedure, the incisions are closed using very fine sutures or staples.

Post Surgery

Expect some bruising, swelling and the feeling of tightness for the first several weeks. Clips are removed between a week and 10 days. Loss of sensation in the treated areas should return to normal as your nerves begin to regenerate. Pain is moderate with this procedure but a pain medication will be prescribed.

The recovery process is different for everyone, but within a day of your surgery you should be up and moving around. Keep your head elevated for several days following surgery while applying cold compresses or small ice packs to help reduce swelling and discomfort. Avoid wearing contact lenses until you feel comfortable doing so. Plan to be off usual activities for the first week and as your face may be bruised, you may want to consider using special camouflage makeup.

The appearance of your scars fade nicely with time and will improve over a period of several months.

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