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Browlift plastic surgery
How many types are there?
As we
age,
the force of gravity pulls downward on our face and this
droop can affect the
eyebrows, which in turn affect the upper
eyelids,
pulling them downward and creating a tired look to the
face, according to plastic surgeon Scott A. Greenberg.
Aging
also brings
crow's feet at the corners of the eyes and of course,
frown wrinkles. And some of us have eyebrows that are
positioned low over the eyes, just from our genetics.
A brow lift (forehead lift) takes 1 to 2 hours to perform
and can be done in several ways.
Coronal procedure (the traditional
browlift)
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 From an
incision behind the hairline running over the top of the
head, the skin is gently pulled upwards, the eyebrows
along with it, and set into a new position. At the same
time, excess fat and skin can be removed. If necessary, a
corrugator excision can be performed at the same time,
where the muscles which create frown lines can be modified
or released to smooth the forehead. Then the incision is
closed with sutures or clips and some
cosmetic
surgeons will apply a dressing and bandage. This type
of brow lift raises the hairline and heightens the
forehead. |
Endoscopic browlift
An
endoscope is a very narrow, flexible, hollow tube with a
light at the end. It is connected to a television monitor
and the plastic surgeon uses this TV picture to guide his
actions. Endoscopes are used for many surgeries now, for
example,
endoscopic breast augmentation, but the endoscopic
brow lift was the first one to be accepted widely.
Endoscopic surgeries are much
less
invasive and stressful than traditional surgeries.
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The
endoscopic brow lift calls for several small incisions in
the scalp (3 to 5, depending on what exactly is to be
done), each an inch long or less. Through one of these,
the cosmetic surgeon will insert an endoscope. Through
another of the incisions, he inserts surgical instruments
and carefully lifts the forehead skin to a new position.
The eyebrows are lifted at the same time, giving the eyes
a wider look.
As with
the traditional brow lift, the plastic surgeon then closes
the incision and usually dresses it, using a bandage to
hold the dressings in place. In this type of
browlift, no skin is removed. So this is not the procedure
of choice for a person with many horizontal brow wrinkles.
But the small incisions leave very
small scars,
which makes it good for
men whose hair is too thin to cover scars. |
Temporal brow lift
The
temporal browlift (also called a lateral lift or
lateral brow lift) is a variation of the
endoscopic brow lift. In this procedure, the small
incisions are located a little further to the
sides, nearer the temples, and the new position of
the skin and underlying tissues has a slightly
more slanted angle. It also lifts the cheeks a
little (Autologous
fat transplant), giving a more youthful line to the
cheekbones. Excess skin is removed (Skin
reduction surgery), which
lifts the outer ends of the eyebrows slightly, but
doesn't lift the center ends. Crow's feet are also
removed with this method. It can be done at
the same time as an endoscopic brow lift and/or a
facelift.
Corrugator muscle excision
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The
corrugator muscle is the one which squeezes the eyebrows
together, forming frown wrinkles as we age. A corrugator
excision is often performed along with a browlift and
involves modifying or removing part of the corrugator
muscle so that frown lines will not re-develop.
Direct browlift
This is
a method for raising the eyebrows without affecting the
hairline or working on frown lines or crow's feet. The
incisions are right along the tops of the eyebrows and
raise only the eyebrows themselves. The resulting scars
are barely visible against the hair of the eyebrows. |
Related:
Myths
about plastic surgery
Eyebrow transplant |
