Will my brows drop after upper bleph? (Photo)

Question

I'm booked for upper bleph in 3 weeks due to hooded eyes and excess skin. The surgeon said my eyebrows are a little low but 'you don't really want a forehead lift' I REALLY don't. However, I read your brows can drop after bleph, due to over compensation to lift the eyes. How do I know if I do this? I don't want my eyebrows lower. The surgeon suggested not having Botox in my forehead but I have lines and want it done once recovered from surgery. Can forehead Botox be done and not cause droop?

Jonathan Kulbersh, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question and I appreciate your concern. When performed by an experienced, board-certified facial plastic surgeon, upper blepharoplasty should not result in a drooping brow line. However, if you are unhappy with the appearance of your brows after your eyelid surgery, you can certainly talk to your surgeon about potential options ranging from injectable treatments to additional surgery. I do believe that is an unlikely scenario, however.

Marc Pacifico, MD, FRCS(Plast) · Answer

Many thanks for posting your question. 
There is always a theoretical risk that the eyebrow position and shape can change after the excess skin is removed after an upper eyelid lift. This is especially so if you are slightly elevating your brows (usually subconsciously) in order to maintain their position - something known as compensated brow ptosis.
My suggestion is usually to leave the brows alone unless they clearly need addressing too, but recognise they might change, so if they do slightly, it is not a surprise. Normally, most people will obtain a very good result from addressing their eyelids alone.
I hope this helps!

Jaeil Lee, MD · Answer

There would not be a direct relationship with the brow drop when it comes to upper bleph surgery. However, if you have a tendency of using your brow muscle as well as the forehead muscle when you open your eyes to maintain certain vision range, this may cause some amount of brow drop because after you remove the hooded upper eyelid skin, you then need less strength opening your eyes and because of this some people slowly stop using the brow and forehead muscle and this may cause the brow drop.Therefore, there is no direct relationship with the brow drop due to the upper blepharoplsty, but the behavior of the muscle use can cause this.I hope this helps

Barry L. Eppley, MD, DMD · Answer

Removing hooded upper eyelid skin has not caused eyebrows to drop in my experience. That may be a theoretical risk in some patients but does not seem to be an issue that most upper blepharoplasty patients need to consider. Whether Botox can cause the eyebrows to drop is technique related and thus can be avoided.

Will my brows drop after upper bleph? (Photo)

Answers (4)