Our face is the first and
most important part of our body which shows our
age. There are many changes that occur in the
various features of our face that make us look
old and sometimes much older than what we feel.
An high, arched brow, which has a nice gentle
con-tour is a sign of beauty and youthfulness.
One of the important change that is associated
with aging is drooping of the eyebrows. Along
with heredity, sun damage another important factor
that contrib-utes to aging is Gravity. There is
descent of tissues associated with loss of volume
due to age. Recent advances in cosmetic surgery
now allow us to re-duce and remove these changes,
a process called Brow lift. |
| Who should
have it done? |
A sagging heavy brow is usually associated with
a lot of aging changes around the eyes. Facial
aging includes loss of skin elasticity and firmness,
sag-ging tissues and wrinkles on the forehead.
Even an energetic and excited person can appear
tired or sad due to aging around the eye. Sagging,
bulges and folds around the eyes can make the
eyes look old and tired. Descent of the fat pad
under the brow reduce the normal distance between
the eyebrows and the eye and contributes to the
formation of folds on the upper eyelid. If you
are bothered by these signs of aging in your face,
a brow lift may be right for you. In general,
adults with the above problems, of any age who
are in good health, mod-erately fit and overall
have good muscle tone are good candidates for
facial rejuvenation. They should not have any
life threatening illness or medical conditions.
Patients who smoke can have an increased risk
of complications.
|
| Could you
benefit from a brow lift |
 The
forehead and the eyes should be visualised as
one region and should not be separated from one
another. Hence a brow lift is usually advised
to pa-tients requesting rejuvenation of the eyes.
A brow lift will enhance the arching of the eyebrows,
re-store the youthful distance between the eyelid
mar-gins and the eyebrow. Along with reversing
the ag-ing changes, it can enhance the look of
beauty
Its not likely to change your life or the way
people treat you. It might possibly improve your
confi-dence and self esteem when you start seeing
a more youthful and fresh you in the mirror.
|
| Where do
I begin? |
A consultation with your Aesthetic Plastic surgeon
at Aesthetics is the first step to learn how brow
lift surgery can improve the appearance of your
face. This consultation will fully educate you
in a non-pressured environment and will include
a discus-sion of your goals, options available
for facelift surgery, likely outcomes, potential
risks and com-plications.
|
| What kind
of anesthesia is required? |
Usually the procedure would be done under a gen-eral
anesthetic for improved comfort.
|
| The procedure |
 There
are many techniques by which brow lift can be
done. Brow lift is quite an old technical proce-dure
which has evolved over the last 70 years, from
a traditional coronal skin incision technique
( where the skin is lifted and pulled) to Endoscopic
brow lift techniques. There are numerous other
techniques, one more radical than the other.
what is important is to give a balanced rejuvenated
look, by the most simple and effective technique
which leaves the least complications. Essentially,
all techniques endeavour to release all attachments
between the brow and the bone and then pull
the skin up. The excess skin can be either removed
or freed to allow it to co ntract.
|
| What to
expect after surgery? |
There might be bruising and swelling after surgery
that should subside in 3 - 6 weeks. You will have
a soft and comfortable dressing around your head,
cheeks and chin for firm support. The dressing
will be removed in seven days. Immediately after
sur-gery, due to the swelling, you might experience
some difficulty in opening your eyes. There is
a possibility of bruising around the eyes (black
eye). There could be slight irritation and a feeling
of dry eye. This rapidly improves after the next
day.. Your plastic surgeon at Aesthetics and the
assisting staff will fully attend to your comfort
and safety.
You will be advised to apply an antibacterial
oint-ment to the eye and protect the eyes from
sun, wind and dust by wearing sunglasses.
|
| Risks and
complications |
Although there are very few risks associated with
this procedure, a possible general risk includes
bleeding and collection of blood under the skin
(hematoma). Bleeding is rare but may have to be
stopped. Any surgery carries risks associated
with anaesthesia. These risks will be fully discussed
with you prior to your consent for surgery. The
nerves of the face can sometimes be bruised during
the operation and takes 3 - 6 weeks to recover.
This may lead to slight weakness in the muscles
supplied by that nerve. General risks like delayed
wound healing and infections are common to many
other operations and can be treated satisfactorily.
|
| Progress
and healing |
Incisions usually heal in 7 days to 2 weeks. Stitches
are removed around this time. You will then be
asked to use a moisturiser and massage the face
and scars. You will be able to return to light
work and normal activity at this time, and to
resume wearing contact lenses. Cosmetics can camouflage
any bruising or redness. Healing will continue
for sev-eral weeks. Diligent sun protection is
a must for best results.
|
| Results
and outlook |
 Your
final result will appear over time, generally
within several weeks. It may take up to a year
for incision lines to fully refine. Most of the
swelling resolves by three months. While eyelid
surgery can be expected to correct certain conditions
around the eye permanently, you will continue
to age natu-rally.
The benefits of your surgery should reveal
a smooth and a firm contour of the forehead,
better arching of the brows, improved distance
between eyebrows and eyelid margin. This will
complement any rejuvenation procedure around
the eyes. What matters more is that the appearance
of your eyes matches the way you feel inside
- youthful, vital and alert. |
