Aging on your brows is not only unattractive, but it can give people you interact with an entirely wrong impression, making them think you’re perpetually tired, sad, even angry. In extreme cases, sagging brows can begin to impact your vision.

A brow lift with Dr. Barrera takes off the years and stops the misinformation! A brow lift removes forehead wrinkles and lines, tightens the skin and underlying tissue, and presents a younger, more energetic you to the world. These days we could all use some of that!

Can a brow lift help me?

Most of our brow lift patients are typically between the ages of 40 and 60 and are bothered by sagging brows and aging skin on the forehead. If you want to bring the brows back up and erase the lines and creases, a brow lift can be a good procedure. If you’d like to get a preview of what a brow lift can accomplish, when in front of a mirror place the lower palm of each hand just above the eyebrows on each side of your head and pull up and away from your eyes. This is basically what a brow lift will do.

Brow lift options

If possible, Dr. Barrera will use endoscopic methods for your brow lift. In an endoscopic brow lift, he makes three to five short incisions, each less than one inch, within the hairline. He inserts an endoscope, a thin instrument with a camera on one end, into one of the incisions. The endoscope allows visualization of the area beneath the skin without lifting back the entire forehead as in a direct brow lift. Through one of the other incisions, surgical tools are inserted to reposition underlying muscles, trim excess skin, and elevate the forehead skin and tissue to remove lines and sagging.

A traditional brow lift uses a single coronal incision that runs from one ear and wraps up and around the forehead ending at the other ear. This incision is made within the hairline. Once the forehead skin is lifted away, underlying tissues are repositioned, excess skin is removed, and the skin is re-draped. Due to the long scar and involved recovery, direct brow lifts are used mainly to improve visual function. For cosmetic situations, Dr. Barrera tries to use endoscopic methods.

Recovery and results

With a brow lift there will be swelling and bruising that can migrate down into your cheeks and around your eyes. This should be gone in a week to 10 days. For the first two days following your surgery, you’ll need to keep your head elevated, even while sleeping.

Due to its lengthy incision, a coronal brow lift requires more extensive recovery than an endoscopic brow lift. There will be more pain involved due to the length of the incision and because more skin is lifted in the procedure. This will also create more itching across the forehead, particularly along the incision line. This feeling can last for months and can be accompanied by numbness or tingling, but this will go away in time.

Most patients can return to work within 10 days, but any heavy lifting or vigorous exercise needs to be avoided for up to one month.

Have people been asking if you’re tired or mad when you are fully rested and feeling breezy? Uh oh. Could be time to do something about those sagging brows. Call Dr. Barrera at (713) 468-5200 to schedule a consultation.