Brow lift: A surgical procedure in which the skin of the forehead and eyebrows is tightened to eliminate sagging eyebrows or correct frown lines in the forehead.

Also called a forehead lift, this procedure wipes your worries away – or at least those pesky worry lines that aging and stress tend to grant to many of us. Ranking 22^nd among all cosmetic procedures, the brow lift has only been around since 1995. There are several different types of procedures:

• “Coronal” involves making an incision at or just past the hair line and removing excess skin and possibly some muscle from the forehead area. A plus is that the surgery may result in a lower hairline, however, there could also be noticeable scarring.
• A newer approach is endoscopic surgery, which involves several smaller incisions as opposed to one longer incision. This surgery adds some time to the one- to two-hour procedure, but is less invasive and there is a smaller chance of temporary scalp numbness.
• A subcutaneous lift involves incisions made at the hairline and scarring may be visible.
• A temporal brow lift, sometimes called a lateral lift, involves pulling the skin horizontally rather than vertically, and sometimes results in an exotic, cat-like look, but may also eliminate crow’s feet or wrinkles around the eyes.

Brow lift surgery is sometimes combined with bletharoplasty (eye lift). Sutures are removed in 7-10 days. The average recovery time is two weeks, and the after-effects are swelling and numbness, which can also affect the eyes and cheeks. The cost for this procedure varies widely, anywhere from $3,000 to $8,000, depending on the type of procedure and area of the country you’re in.

RESOURCES:

• Here is a straightforward look that explains the different types and subtypes of this procedure.
• How about a video of an endoscopic surgery?  First pictures, then surgery footage.  It isn’t bloody – sort of like cutting up a chicken – but it’s probably not for the faint of heart.