Facial Feminization Surgery: Brow Lift

The eyebrows contribute to the expression of emotions and mood in both men and women, but that’s not all: they contribute to make the eyes look more female or male.
The shape and thickness of female eyebrows differ from male eyebrows. Female eyebrows tend to be curved and are higher, usually above the orbital rim. Male eyebrows, however, tend to be straight and lower.
The arch and height of the eyebrows are related to the shape of the frontal bone that lies beneath. This is why, in forehead feminization procedures, it’s very important to correct the position and shape of the eyebrows with a brow lift after modeling the frontal bone.

If brow lift surgery is combined with a frontal bone recontouring, you will have to stay at the clinic for one whole day. In this procedure, the scar will run along the hairline, with a separation of about one millimeter. As months go by, the scar will turn pale pink, and then it will become of the same color of the rest of your skin.
Other techniques are used when brow lift surgery is the only procedure done, and the resulting scars will be concealed by the hair, unless you have large bald spots in your head.

Brow lift surgery is usually done after a recontouring of the frontal bone using the same incision, but it can be done alone as well. When this procedure is done alone it is much less invasive, and requires very small incisions that will be concealed by the hair.

Anesthesia

Local anesthesia and sedation, or general anesthesia.

How long will it take?

Between 60 and 90 minutes.

How long will I have to stay hospitalized?

If brow lift surgery is combined with a frontal bone recontouring, you will have to stay at the clinic for one whole day.
If it’s done alone, you will not have to stay at the clinic for more than half a day.

What kind of bandages will I need? When will they be removed?

In both cases, you will leave the operating room with a bandage on the treated area that will be removed 1 or 2 days later for you to be able to wash your head.

Will I feel a lot of pain?

Low to medium, according to the characteristics of the procedure.
You will be greatly relieved if you take analgesics every 6 or 8 hours.

When will the stitches be removed?

Between 5 and 10 days after the surgery.

What about swelling and bruises?

The incidence of bruises and swelling depends on the patient and the method used. The technique that causes more swelling and bruises is the one used when this procedure is combined with recontouring of the frontal bone.
You will recover faster if you sleep with the head elevated and apply cold compresses.

At first, you may feel your forehead numb. If a coronal incision was made, you may feel your scalp numb for some days or for several months.
During the first 48 hours, you will have to rest at the hotel and be careful not to move your head too abruptly. You may be able to go back to work, and to have fun as you used to, 10 days after the surgery, unless you also had a recontouring of the frontal bone. In that case, you will have to wait about 20 days.
During the recovery period, some people may feel quite depressed. It’s quite normal to feel this way after any kind of surgery, no matter how simple it may be. You may even come to think that you made a big mistake. But don’t worry. Most of the women who are nowadays happy and satisfied with the results obtained have also felt somewhat depressed.

It is very unlikely for brow lift surgery to present any complications when performed by a qualified surgeon. However, every surgery, no matter how simple it may be, has certain risks that we should not rule out.

• Adverse reactions to anesthesia.
• Infections may develop but, if you take the right antibiotics, they will be less likely to develop. If threads were used and an infection develops, they might have to be removed.
• Hypertrophic scars or keloids (excessive scar tissue due to genetic traits of certain skin types).
• Large bruises that may need to be drained.
• Seromas, or fluid accumulation beneath the skin, may develop. In some cases, they will have to be drained with a syringe.
• Hair weakness and loss around the incisions.
• Incorrect position of the eyebrows. For example: asymmetry or expression of surprise.