My Doctor Said I Should Vigorously Massage my Post Browlift Brow? OK or Not?

Question

Now 6 mos. post-surgery from browlift and eyelid repair. The left side of my face has not recovered. I have a tugging sensation at the outside underneath corner of my eye, the lid is a little aymmetrical (was very asymmetrical), and I have sharp tingling and numbness on the left brow,complete numbness in one area of the scalp. Doc said to vigorously massage the brow downward. Can this cause more damage? Anything I can do to promote healing -heat (I use heat a lot)? diet/vitamins? anything?

Jason Lichtenberger, MD · Answer

Massage and heat probably won't do much 6 months after a browlift, but shouldn't hurt anything.  The brows do tend to slowly come down over time, but any asymmetry should be addressed by your surgeon.

Toby Mayer, MD · Answer

It is normal to have numbness and tingling for up to 1 year after a browlift.  I don't think the massage will help help at this point, but it won't hurt anything either.

Steven Wallach, MD · Answer

If you had what is called an open brow lift, it is quite common and normal to have numbness onthe scalp that usualy gets better over a years time. AS for massage for tugging sensation, I would have to examine you and see what is going on.

Bernard A. Shuster, MD, FACS · Answer

Without knowing what type of brow lift you had it is difficult to say if this would be appropriate. I can tell you that I advise all of my brow lift patients to always wash their face or rub their face with an "up and back" motion so they do not disturb the results of their lift. The tingling sensation and numbness is normal to experience after surgery because the nerves are disrupted and massage can help to "re-train" the nerves. I would ask your surgeon if he thinks this will harm your results in any way.

Steven Schuster, MD, FACS · Answer

Different plastic surgeons have different post surgery treatment protocols. Since I don't know what type of procedure you had I can't say for sure what each is. Scalp numbness is almost always present after an open browlift because the nerves are cut in the incisions. Very often these come back to the most part. The tugging at the eye will probably go away over time as it has already improved since after surgery. If you are concerned you can always go back to your plastic surgeon and see if there is anything unusual going on or at least to discuss your concerns.

Richard W. Fleming, MD (retired) · Answer

In some patients it takes longer than 6 months for all changes in sensation to resolve. It is good that the asymmetry has improved - perfect symmetry is rarely achieved. I suggest you follow your surgeon's instructions re massage. Patience is necessary.

My Doctor Said I Should Vigorously Massage my Post Browlift Brow? OK or Not?

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