What is a Sub-brow lift? Is my upper lid too narrow for upper eye lid bleph? (Photo)

Question

I've sent this pictures to an oversea doctor, where I'll be visiting for a while. He suggested to have a "sub-brow lift" through the above brow line right along the brow hair. His suggestions is that my upper eyelid is too narrow to perform a traditional blepharoplasty. I'm confused. Doctors here (in the US), 1suggested that there is no need for brow lift, while the other one said yes. I'm confused....

Toby Mayer, MD · Answer

Browlift, blepharoplasty or both? It depends on YOUR GOALS and not the surgeons' goals. You have excess skin beyond your lids laterally so that needs a brow lift to correct. Your brows are low as well. A blepharoplasty(upper) will not correct that! If you only want skin gone form your upper lid and do not care about your brows then an upper blepharoplasty will do. Forget the sub brow lift. This should be done at the hairline if u have a high hairline or endoscopic if your hairline is low.

John J. Martin, Jr., MD · Answer

Tough to tell without a consultation -  but you have a significant amount of excess skin and fat in the upper eyelids.  The concern is whether the brow will drop if you take some of this out.  Your brow actually doesn't look too low.  The other doctor is talking about a direct brow lift, where the incision is made right at the brow.  This works well for people who have enough brow hair, and who don't want to do an endoscopic browlift. You can always do the lids first.  If you think that your brow looks too low you can then lift it in a separate surgery.

P. Daniel Ward, MD · Answer

Based on the photos, I think you would benefit from a brow lift and a blepharoplasty. Almost always, an endoscopic brow lift can be performed, which minimizes the scars and your recovery time.

Steven J. Smith, MD · Answer

Your photo shows a lot of soft tissue ptosis in the glabella and medial brow regions.  Based on a single limited photo, it would appear you would benefit most from an endobrowlift and upper and lower blepharoplasty.  The "sub brow lift" procedure you mentioned probably refers to a reverse type brow lift which is performed via the upper eyelid incisions.  You can obtain some mild elevation with this approach, but it is not nearly as effective as a browlift performed from above the eyebrows.

William Portuese, MD · Answer

An upper blepharoplasty would be all that is required to remove the hooded extra skin on the upper lids.  There is also some fatty deposits on the upper lids that can also be removed at the same time. In our opinion, a brow lift is not necessary.  For many examples of eyelid surgery, please see the link below

What is a Sub-brow lift? Is my upper lid too narrow for upper eye lid bleph? (Photo)

Answers (5)