Is Shaving Brow Bone Possible?

This bone can be shaved thru the eyebrow. Also fillers like Radiesse can be used to fill in the temples, but this only lasts 18 months.

Hi Klm,If you wish to avoid surgery, Sculptra is an excellent stimulatory filler and is very effective in the temporal area. By filling your temples, the edges of your brows should not appear to be as prominent. A direct supra-brow incision approach may be used to shave down the bone.Good luck and be well.Dr. P

You are correct. Most of the surgery on frontal bossing or prominence of the supra-orbital rim is based on FFS. However, these surgeons tend to be the most experienced. Concerns with entering the frontal sinus cavity make this a procedure that carries more risk than other common bone reduction surgeries. Fillers are an option for non-surgical temporary correction but the volume of filler required will make this somewhat costly to repeat on a regular basis.

Reduction of a prominent brow entails reducing the frontal bone overlying the frontal sinus.  Depending on the extent of bony prominence, which is a factor of sinus development and size, this may be performed by several approaches.  Mild-moderate bony prominence or bossing can be approached by burring or "sanding down" the bone.  However, severe bony prominence may require osteotomizing (cutting) the frontal bone and exposing the frontal sinus.  Depending on the anatomy of the frontal bone and sinus, it may be necessary to remove the mucosa or internal lining of the sinus to prevent subsequent infections with replacement of the removed bony segment and further contouring.  

This type of procedure should only be performed by a craniofacial surgeon, a plastic surgeon who has pursued fellowship training in craniofacial surgery and one who is properly trained to address the frontal sinus as well as the bones of the entire facial skeleton.

There is no place in this type of pursuit for the use of fillers. A filler would only serve to transiently camoflage the prominent brow by increasing the prominence of the bone on either side of it or above it.  This is not a solution but a poor illusion that will only result in the patient now concerned that an even greater segment of their brow/forehead is too prominent.

Shaving a brow bone is possible, however it is usually traditionally done through a coronal approach by incisions placed across the top of the forehead and the forehead is peeled down in order to gain access to the entire forehead.
An alternative to this would be to place an incision in the lateral portion to the outside or lateral portion of the eyebrow and then come in and file the brow bone down if it is only just the lateral horns that are bothering the patient.