Drilling Bone for Browlift

I saw a plastic surgeon this week about a possible brow lift to correct drooping of the left brow due to a traumatic injury several years ago. After the scar tissue diminished from the accident the brow started drooping and eyelid became somewhat hooded.

The surgeon said he thought a nerve had been contused by the injury and he’d perfrom a brow lift. He referred to the lateral area only needing work so I assume it’s a lateral lift. But he said he might attach the skin to the bone above my hairline after drilling a tiny hole so it would be anchored. He said he’d only raise the brow about one centimeter. Drilling a hole, however small, sounds like it could have some fairly serious consequences. Is this common? What could I expect from that type of lift regarding risks and healing time if he did drill into the bone? The doctor said he didn’t want to minimize the risks of any surgery but didn’t go into detail except for scarring. I have fairly translucent skin which bruises easily but it’s in great shape-almost no wrinkles nor sagging.
I also would like to know if I would then pretty much have to have the right brow done when aging starts to make that brow sag if the left brow stays up.
I am 57 and in good health except for polycystic kidney disease (no change in 8 years and very good kidney function).
dermagirl


Hi Dermagirl,

I don’t know what your eyebrows look like, and whether the lateral browlift will correct the assymetry of the eyebrows. When ever a one sided procedure is done, this can lead to other consequences which may or may not be good. As most people age they develop hooding of the outsides of their eyelids, and hollowing towards of inside part of their eyelids.

Note on this young woman, who has a fullness below the eyebrow, and actually does not have much eyelid showing, yet she doesn’t appear to be hooding.

Image Credit: www.associatesinplasticsurgery.com

To my eye, the older woman actually has more eyelid showing than the younger woman. I wonder if she looked like the after photo when she was in her 20′s-30′s?

Compare Joan River’s with Lindsey Lohan.

Is this (drilling the bone to anchor tissue) common?

Drilling bone tunnels to anchor tissue together is not a new concept. It has been used to help to hold broken bones together, or as an anchor point sew tendons and ligaments in orthopedic surgery.

What could I expect from that type of lift regarding risks and healing time if he did drill into the bone?

In general the risk of drilling into the brain is low even if the surgeon doesn’t use the Xomed bone bridge, but the kit helps to make drilling the bone more “fool proof.” Surgeons are human, and things can happen. It helps if the drill bit has a stop which prevents the drill from going too deep.

The recovery time for a browlift is relatively short, maybe 1-2 weeks for most of the bruising and swelling to be gone, but there will be more healing over the following months.
I also would like to know if I would then pretty much have to have the right brow done when aging starts to make that brow sag if the left brow stays up.

I don’t know. Maybe. It depends on what happened to your left eyebrow/eyelid. The way I determine what procedure to perform is to ask the patient for photos prior to the problem (accident or aging) and compare how they look now to how they looked back then. If the photos are carefully lined up, I can see if the eyebrows are different heights, if there is any droopy eyelids, how much eyelid is showing, and how much fullness they have in the skin below the eyebrows, and above the eyelid skin. Then I decide what combination of procedures or single procedure that the patient needs to restore their prior appearance [upper eyelid skin removal, browlift, fat grafting, or possibly a droopy eyelid repair (ptosis repair.)] Everyone is different with different problems, so each patient deserves a customized surgical plan.

I hope this helps.

Best,

Dr. Yang