Is Brow Lift Painful

Is Brow Lift Painful

It is possible to perform a brow lift while you are awake and under local anesthetic. However, in some cases, general anesthesia may be necessary. Other factors may also be relevant in postoperative pain management. Always speak with your surgeon before undergoing any type of operation to discuss your options for managing pain during and after the procedure.

These inconspicuous incisions are made during a surgical procedure that takes place in a medical setting. The brow tissue is lifted and relaxed using fiber optic tools.

The hands-on procedure involves making small incisions in the skin, at different points of the forehead. Small sections of skin are then peeled back to allow for removal of excess and low hanging tissue, as well as sagging muscles. This removal results in lifting effects on the forehead region. Read on to learn more on hairline brow lift and endoscopic brow lift.

Is Brow Lift Painful

The upper areas of the face have come into the limelight in the last year and a half. With many people wearing masks when they go out of the home, we’ve become much more aware of how our eyes affect our appearance. Problems like undereye bags make us look tired. Issues with the upper eyelids, such as hooding and heaviness, can make us appear sad or angry. The upper eye area is influenced not only by thinning eyelid tissue but also by the position of the eyebrows on the forehead. This is why a plastic surgeon may recommend a brow lift instead of an eyelid lift. Some of our patients choose a combination of the two.

A brow lift focuses on lifting and repositioning the tissue on the forehead. The procedure can release the muscles that form frown lines and place the brow line back along the upper orbital rim, where it belongs. This procedure smoothes horizontal forehead lines and can also improve the symmetry of the eyebrows. Here, we discuss what patients often want to know about this procedure, what it’s like to recover from a brow lift.

There are two methods to lift your forehead and eyebrow areas:

• Classic lift
• Endoscopic lift

The classic lift involves one continuous cut beginning at the level of your ears and going up around your hair line. Depending on where your hair line is, the surgeon will work to avoid a visible scar.

For the endoscopic lift, the surgeon makes a few shorter cuts in your scalp. They will insert a scope — a small camera on the end of a thin tube — into one of the cuts and use another device inserted in another cut to make the necessary changes.

In the endoscopic lift, the surgeon uses small anchors to secure the tissue. Because the cuts are smaller, this procedure is less invasive than the classic lift. You will have minimal scarring and a shorter recovery time.

Your Brow Lift Consultation

You’ll have a meeting to consult with your surgeon before the procedure. At this meeting, you should talk about your goals, your current health, and your medical history.

Your surgeon will evaluate your entire forehead region, including your upper eyelids, paying attention to the muscles. The surgeon may have you make a series of facial expressions so they can best see exactly how to help you.

You should ask your surgeon for details of all charges — including charges for follow-up care — and payment options.

Health insurance typically doesn’t pay for cosmetic procedures. There would have to be a medical reason for an insurance company to cover some or all of it. If you’re not sure about your case, ask your doctor and your health insurance company before deciding whether to get the procedure. That way you can be clear on what you’ll need to pay for yourself.

How to Prepare for Your Brow Lift

There might be some lifestyle adjustments you have to make before you can have a brow lift. Your surgeon should give you detailed instructions about what you need to do and when you need to do it.

For instance, if you smoke, your surgeon may ask you to stop at least temporarily. You may also have to avoid alcohol and certain medications. If you regularly take an aspirin or other anti-inflammatory drug, your surgeon will ask you to stop taking these for a certain period of time before the surgery. These drugs can cause increased bleeding and should be avoided.

Also, if your hair is long and will get in the way of the procedure, you may have to trim it. If your hair is shorter, you may want to grow it out to cover any scars. Be sure to discuss all these things — as well as how to prepare — with your surgeon

Endoscopic Brow Lift

Endoscopic Brow Lift

An endoscopic brow lift is a minimally invasive procedure designed to restore a youthful appearance to your face. The procedure is performed with the aid of an endoscope, a thin tube containing a tiny video camera. This allows the surgeon to see inside your nose and upper cheek area as he or she works. The endoscope also has light and surgical tools attached to its tip.

In this procedure, your surgeon will make an incision along the side of your nose. He or she will then remove excess skin, fat and muscle from your upper eyelids, forehead and scalp. The skin will be lifted up into place using special sutures that dissolve naturally over time.

Endoscopic brow lift is a procedure that lifts the brows and smoothens the forehead by removing excess skin. The procedure is performed under local anesthesia and can be done in an outpatient setting.

During endoscopic brow lift, the surgeon makes a small incision behind each earlobe, through which he inserts a thin tube with a camera on one end and surgical instruments on the other. The surgeon then lifts the skin away from underlying tissue for repositioning by inserting tiny titanium screws or sutures. A small amount of fat tissue may also be removed if necessary. The incisions are closed with dissolving sutures that do not require removal.

Endoscopic brow lift can also be performed under general anesthesia if necessary. This technique involves making several incisions over areas to be lifted, then creating tunnels beneath the skin so that instruments can reach them from above without having to cut through tissues.

It’s time to look more specifically at the variables we introduced in the first table. Just to reiterate, the information here is a general estimate. Consultations with providers always provides the most accurate assessment of the probable cost of your brow lift.

That being said, the information below can help you to better understand the questions to ask and factors to consider when going into a consultation so you can feel empowered and informed throughout your cosmetic experience.

• Non-Surgical vs. Surgical: On average, non-surgical procedures cost less than surgical procedures. They are less involved, do not necessitate general anesthesia, and have less facility fees.
• Provider: A more experienced, board certified plastic surgeon or specialized provider will most likely charge more for their skills, which may lead to higher consultation fees (that may or may not be applied as a credit towards the cost of the actual procedure) and a higher procedure cost.
• Anesthesiologist: Like the surgeon, training, education, and experience will influence cost. General anesthesia requires more expertise and is more expensive than local anesthesia. Most local anesthetics do not need to be administered by an anesthesiologist.
• Location: Let’s just be real and acknowledge everything is more expensive on the coasts. This is of course true of plastic and cosmetic procedures as well. The 2020 ASPS Report breaks procedures down by regions. The east and west coasts accounted for high percentage of all brow lifts performed in 2020. More procedures makes for more experienced providers makes for higher procedure costs.
• Recovery: Brow lift recovery will vary considerably by procedure type. Recovery may include prescriptions, recovery garments, follow ups, and time off from work.

There are numerous types of brow lifts and the most appropriate procedure for a candidate will be dependent on the individual’s unique needs. The table below provides additional details specific to each procedure type.

Hairline Brow Lift

A brow lift poses several risks, including:

• Scarring. Scarring might be visible after a brow lift.
• Changes in skin sensation. A brow lift can cause temporary or permanent numbness on the forehead or top of the scalp.
• Asymmetry in the position of the brows. A brow lift can result in uneven brows (asymmetry), with one or both eyebrows appearing too high. However, asymmetry may even out during the healing process. Persistent brow shape or position problems can be treated with injections such as Botox or through additional surgery.
• Hair problems. A brow lift can cause an elevated hairline or hair loss at the incision site. If hair loss doesn’t resolve on its own, it can be treated with a procedure to remove part of the scalp experiencing hair loss or using a hair graft.

Like any other type of major surgery, a brow lift poses a risk of bleeding, infection and a reaction to anesthesia.

How you prepare

Initially, you’ll talk to a facial plastic surgeon or plastic surgeon about a brow lift. During your first visit, your surgeon will likely:

• Review your medical history. Be prepared to answer questions about current and past medical conditions. Talk about any medications you’re taking or have taken recently, as well as any surgeries you’ve had. Tell your surgeon if you’re allergic to any medications.
• Do a physical exam. To determine your treatment options, your surgeon will examine and measure different parts of your face with your eyes open and closed. Photographs might be taken for your medical record.
• Discuss your expectations. Explain why you want a brow lift, and how you want to look after the procedure. Make sure you understand the benefits and risks.

Before a brow lift you might also need to:

• Stop smoking. Smoking decreases blood flow in the skin and can slow the healing process. If you smoke, stop smoking before surgery and during recovery.
• Avoid certain medications. You’ll likely need to avoid taking aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs and herbal supplements, which can increase bleeding.
• Arrange for help during recovery. Make plans for someone to drive you home after you leave the hospital and stay with you for at least the first night of your recovery at home.

What you can expect

A brow lift is done in a hospital or an outpatient surgical center. During a brow lift, you’ll typically be comfortable with the aid of sedation anesthesia given through an IV in your arm. Or you may be given general anesthesia.

During the procedure

Brow lift techniques vary depending on your desired results. The specific technique your surgeon chooses will determine the location of the incisions and the resulting scars.

Your surgeon might use one of the following techniques:

• Endoscopic brow lift. In this procedure, several small incisions are made behind the hairline. A long thin tube with a light and a tiny camera mounted on its end is inserted through one of the incisions to view the underlying muscles and tissues.Using an instrument inserted through another incision, the surgeon lifts the forehead tissues and anchors them in place with sutures, small screws or another technique. The incisions are then closed with stitches or small clips.
• Temporal brow lift. This procedure is done through small incisions just behind the hairline near the temples.
• Direct brow lift. This procedure is done by removing the skin above the eyebrows. A direct brow lift is typically done in people with bushy eyebrows. It’s also a shorter surgery and can be done with local anesthesia, which numbs only part of the body.
• Coronal brow lift. This procedure involves making an incision behind the hairline across the top of the head, from ear to ear or primarily on the top of the head. Then the forehead is lifted into its new position, with the scalp in front of the incision overlapping the scalp behind it.The overlapping scalp is then removed, and the remaining scalp is sewn together. This technique is not typically done in people who have high hairlines, thin hair or who are likely to lose their hair.
• Hairline brow lift. For this procedure, an incision is made between the top of the forehead and the beginning of the hairline. A small amount of skin and tissue is removed from the top of the forehead, rather than your scalp. This can correct a high hairline.A hairline brow lift is often used if someone has a high, receding hairline. However, a scar might be visible along the hairline, depending on the placement of the incisions, scar healing and hairstyle.

Brow lift surgery typically takes about 1 to 2 hours.

After the procedure

After a brow lift, your forehead might be loosely wrapped to minimize swelling. A small tube might be placed along the incision site to drain any excess blood or fluid.

Your health care provider will give you specific instructions on how to care for your incisions. In the first few days after a brow lift:

• Rest with your head elevated and take pain medication as recommended by your provider
• Apply cold compresses to relieve swelling
• Avoid exposing your incisions to excessive pressure or motion

As your incisions heal, you might experience itching and numbness, which will likely lessen over time. If your incisions are covered in bandages, they’ll likely be removed in 1 to 3 days. Sutures typically will be removed within 7 to 10 days of surgery.

Ask your health care provider when it’s OK to resume daily activities, such as washing and drying your hair and bathing. Keep in mind that the swelling might last several weeks.

Incision lines will fade over time. You might use makeup to conceal any prolonged bruising.

After a brow lift, contact your doctor immediately if you have:

• Sudden swelling
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Irregular heartbeats.

For this procedure, an incision is made between the top of the forehead and the beginning of the hairline. A small amount of skin and tissue is removed from the top of the forehead, rather than your scalp. This can correct a high hairline. A hairline brow lift is often used if someone has a high, receding hairline.

• Cosmetic Surgery: Procedures for reshaping normal structures for improved appearance and self-esteem.
• Reconstructive Surgery: Procedures performed on abnormal body structures resulting from congenital defects, developmental abnormalities, trauma, disease, infection, or tumors.

The difference in the definitions here is the kicker. Cosmetic procedures are not covered by insurance. Reconstructive surgeries may be. In the case of brow lift procedures, there is hardly ever a functional indication for performing the procedure. Since it’s cosmetic, insurance is not going to assist with or cover costs.

Some cosmetic procedures (like upper eyelid surgery, abdominoplasty, or breast augmentation) are covered by insurance, if the patient’s medical provider can document medical necessity and evidence that alternative therapies have been tried and failed. The ASPS has more specific criteria you can review with a provider during your consultation.

Are you tired of caveats? One more. Hybrid procedures (i.e. ones that are both aesthetic and functional) may not be covered despite the functional benefit. Basically, unless you have a consistently proven and documented medical condition your brow lift will not be covered.