Your forehead extends from your eyebrows to your hairline, and is approximately one third of your face’s total length. It’s an expressive facial feature, and plays an important role in nonverbal communication, especially of your moods and thoughts. Deep furrows or drooping eyebrows can create a permanent scowl, making one look older, more tired, and even angry. Offered at Kaiser Permanente Cosmetic Services locations throughout Northern California, including San Francisco, Sacramento, and Union City, a brow lift can be an effective procedure for rejuvenating your appearance and is often performed in conjunction with other procedures, such as eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty).
About Brow Lift
A brow lift can help reduce the effects of a drooping forehead by elevating the brow and relaxing furrowed brow muscles. There are two kinds of brow lifts:
Coronal Brow Lift – The coronal (traditional) brow lift can be performed with an incision made just above the hairline to reduce the amount of visible scarring.
Endoscopic Brow Lift – Endoscopic forehead lifts use four small incisions. An endoscope is inserted underneath the forehead tissues to free their attachments and allow the brow to be elevated to a more youthful position. The muscles that cause forehead wrinkles can also be weakened to provide a smoother, more youthful result.
Both endoscopic and traditional lift procedures are usually performed with a general anesthetic on an outpatient basis.
You will need to keep your head elevated for two or three days after surgery to reduce the amount of swelling. You should be able to bathe after two days, and you will most likely be able to return to work within 7 to 10 days. Recovery time and risks vary depending on the type of procedure used. Your surgeon will explain the benefits and risks in detail during your consultation.
I had a few procedures done in August 2016: ptosis repair, upper and lower bilateral blepharoplasty, ectropion repair and a brow lift. Prior to surgery Dr. Kim took time to review my medical records, ask and answer questions and respond in a timely manner to any concerns that I had. She has the wonderful qualities of being both a highly skilled doctor and a caring physician. During surgery Dr. Kim made sure I was comfortable throughout the procedures. The surgical care team was both attentive and professional. Follow up care and information was thorough. It did take about 4 weeks before I could fully begin to appreciate the changes, with improved gains still being noticed.
I am very pleased with the results both from a cosmetic and practical viewpoint. Before surgery my lids felt very heavy. I felt that I was losing peripheral vision and was fairly beat after the effort of reading for only 20 minutes. People frequently commented that I looked tired. Now I feel vastly different. I can read for 2 or more hours at a time. The world seems brighter and my peripheral vision is improved. I enjoy seeing my irises again. I feel more youthful and am very pleased with the results and would highly recommend Dr. Kim.
