Blepharoplasty vs. Brow Lift: Which Is Right for Me?

Both blepharoplasty and a brow lift address the upper third of your face, but how do you know which procedure is right for you?

Dr. Dustin Heringer of Arizona Ocular & Facial Plastic Surgery offers both blepharoplasty and brow lifts to his patients in Scottsdale and Peoria, Arizona, to help reverse some of the more visible signs of aging. Which is right for you depends on where you feel your problem areas lie and your aesthetic goals. Here’s how to decide.

The effects of aging on your face

When you were young, your body produced a lot of two proteins: collagen and elastin. Together, they provide your skin with strength, tone, and resilience. However, around age 25, your body started to scale back, and now you lose about 1% of your reservoir each year.

What’s more, environmental factors, such as cigarette smoke, the sun’s rays, and air pollution, can degrade the remaining proteins. Without the structural support for your skin, you develop fine lines and wrinkles, sagging and lax skin, and deep creases and folds. Add gravity into the mix, and everything starts drooping.

If you’ve had enough of not being happy with the face you’re presenting, you have options.

What is blepharoplasty?

Ptosis, or eyelid drooping, can be a part of aging. Without the support of collagen and elastin, and constantly tugged down by gravity, the now-loosened skin on your eyelids sags so that the upper lid hangs over your eyelashes, potentially obstructing your vision.

The lower eyelid skin also wrinkles, sags, and bulges, forming tired-looking bags.

In addition, the stores of fat that cushion your eyeballs from the skull bones are held in place by a thin membrane that also weakens with age. The fat shifts forward into the lids, creating a “puffy” look.

If your eyes are the only thing bothering you, a blepharoplasty is the way to go, as it “lifts” the lids and gives you a more alert appearance.

Blepharoplasties are a common cosmetic procedure, but they can also be performed on the upper lid for medical reasons—loss of sight due to overhanging skin. In either case, Dr. Heringer makes a small cut within the crease of the upper lid so the scar won’t be visible. Next, he removes excess skin, muscle, and fat, and he may also move some tissues around the eye to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

If the blepharoplasty is on your lower lid, Dr. Heringer makes the incision along the lower lash line to hide the scar.

What is a brow lift?

A brow lift, sometimes called a forehead lift, is a cosmetic procedure that rejuvenates the entire upper third of your face. The surgeon removes excess and/or sagging skin and repositions the tissues beneath it, eliminating forehead wrinkles and deep furrows and improving the appearance of the skin around your eyes.

Brow lifts can be performed as a stand-alone procedure. However, many patients decide that they should do the whole thing as long as they’re rejuvenating part of their face. One of the most common add-ons is a blepharoplasty, which makes sense since your eyes sit just beneath your brow, and you want them to look like they belong next to each other.

Dr. Heringer uses an endoscopic technique most often when performing a brow lift, and many other surgeons also use it as their go-to for brow lift surgery in general for two reasons: it’s less invasive than an “open” technique, which uses long incisions, and it delivers good results.

And the bonus for you? A fully refreshed upper face comes with a shorter recovery time and a decreased risk of infection.

If you want to rejuvenate the upper third of your face, a brow lift (maybecombined with a blepharoplasty) can provide the desired results. To learn more or to schedule a consultation with Dr. Heringer, contact Arizona Ocular & Facial Plastic Surgery by calling our nearest office.