Forehead Lift

A forehead lift is a cosmetic surgery procedure that elevates a drooping eyebrow and removes deep worry lines that run across the forehead and may portray expressions of anger, sternness, hostility, fatigue or other unintended emotions to others. Patients commonly request forehead rejuvenation surgery because the area comprises the major focal and expression point of the upper face, the eyes notwithstanding. Given time and gravity, muscles that hold the forehead smooth become loose and weak, causing deep wrinkles to appear. Correcting a wrinkled forehead usually leads to a more youthful look. Patients that request the procedure range in age from 40 to 60. A forehead lift in combination with eyelid surgery reduces sagging skin found on the upper eyelids. There are multiple surgical approaches for a forehead lift. A direct brow lift involves removing an ellipse of skin and muscle just above the eyebrows. Doctors hide the incision within the hairline. This technique does not address wrinkles or lines within the forehead and surgical scars may be prominent after the procedure. Older patients, mostly men with thick eyebrow hair, request this procedure to address male pattern baldness. Doctors suggest a mid-forehead lift for patients older than 65 who have heavy sagging eyebrows and the deepest forehead wrinkles. To bring about a more youthful look, the surgeon makes incisions within the deep forehead wrinkles and removes the excess skin, fat and muscle. The doctor hides incisions within the deep wrinkles so that the resulting scars are not very noticeable after healing. A coronal forehead lift involves an ear-to-ear incision across the forehead and elevates the entire forehead and brow. The most modern technique, an endoscopic forehead lift, involves a surgical telescope that elevates the brows and smoothes forehead wrinkles through small incisions made behind the hairline.