Brow Lift Vs Forehead Lift: What's the Difference?

Yes, I would agree this is very confusing and is often times used interchangeably.
FOREHEAD LIFT:
Forehead lifts are generally accomplished via incisions at the hairline or in the scalp. There are many different techniques which can be:

under the skin and over the muscle (subcutaneous),
under the muscle
under the covering layer of the bone (subperiosteal)

Incisions can be:

at the hairline or in the scalp using 2 inch incisions (limited open)
extending across the enitre hairline or scalp (open pretrichal or coronal)
using multiple small scalp incsions (endoscopic) from ear to ear

Goals:

One can be to shorten the forehead and move the hairline forward to eliminate a high hairline.
Another goal can be to actually lift the eyebrows to a higher location.

BROW LIFT:
A brow lift is any method which can elevate the brows. To some degree this includes the forehead lift but also includes several other approaches:

Incisions directly across the middle of the forehead typically in a older male with deep creases and a receding hairline which makes hiding the incision in the scalp difficult.
Immediately above the eyebrow (direct brow lift). Although this seems obvious it tends to leave a visible hairless scar.
Incisions through the upper eyelid carried out at the time of upper lid tuck (trans-blepharoplasty brow lift). More often than not this does not really achieve significant lifting but keeps the eyebrow from drifing down with the eyelid procedure and is more of a brow pexy than a brow lift.

I hope this helps. I understand your confusion.

Brow lift or Forehead lift are different names for essentially the same procedure, although there are ways of lifting the brows through direct excision of skin above the brows without lifting the entire forehead.

These are interchangeable terms.  Some people refer to it as one instead of the other.  There are browlifts that would not be considered forehead lifts but in general these are the same term.  Visiting a plastic surgeon in your area will help determine which procedure is right for you. 

There are many different names for surgical procedures depending on the surgeon. For some surgeons, a brow lift and a forehead lift may encompass different procedures. Personally, at my office, a forehead lift and a brow lift are two different names for the same procedure. This procedure elevates a saggy brow line and eliminates frown lines in between the brows. I offer four different types of forehead/brow lifts:1-centimeter incision brow lift, which is the most minimally invasive procedure with the easiest recovery. As the name implies, a one-centimeter incision is made in the eyebrow, through which a special suture is made that lifts the skin, muscle, and fat.2. Endoscopic brow lift, which is used when patients require more of a lift than the one-centimeter lift can provide. Only a few incisions are necessary, and recovery time is slightly longer but results are more dramatic. 3. Direct brow lift, which is only used in rare cases where the brow has dropped so much that vision is impaired. The tissue just above the brow is raised in this surgery.4. Coronal brow lift, which is an older technique rarely used today due to its invasive nature and large scar. A coronal brow lift requires an incision all the way across the top of the forehead from ear to ear, from which a strip of tissue is removed in order to elevate the brow. Talk to your surgeon to find out what a forehead or brow lift entails in their practice, and always be sure to see a reputable, board-certified facial plastic surgeon. I hope this helps.

Hi there, I recently wrote a three part editorial series on Forehead lifting as well as eyebrow procedures. I discuss in great detail how this works.Everything from the physiology, the anatomy to treatments. I think rather than repeat myself, you can check out the link below. I am sure you will find it helpful.Dr James P. BonaparteFacial Cosmetic and Reconstructive SurgeryHead and Neck SurgeryOttawa, Ontario, Canada

The terms brow lift and forehead lift are often used interchangeably. A forehead lift in particular addresses the entire forehead, while a brow lift is meant to address only the brow. Sometimes a brow lift only addresses the central portion of the brow, the lateral portion of the brow, or both. Most forehead lifts will also lift the entire brow, but not all brow lifts will lift the entire forehead.

Thank you for your question. The real difference is what the surgeon says he/she is going to do, not the name. Have them describe the surgical plan, not the brand name of it. I hope this helps!

There are many methods for performing a browlift or forehead lift including an endoscopic browlift (through tiny incisions with the assistance of telescopes) , bicoronal forehead lift (extensive incision from ear to ear across the top of the head) and a tricophytic or hairline browlift. (hidden along the hairline. Each of these techniques achieves a similar result through the brow and the forehead in terms of smoothing of lines and gentle elevation of the brows.

The key difference is in how they affect your hairline. The Bicoronal (ear to ear) browlift elevates or pulls your hairline back, raising the frontal hairline by up to one inch. The Endoscopic lift has minimal effect of the position of the hairline. The tricophytic or hairline browlift can be used to adjust the hairline, usually lowering it to address a receding hairline or widow's peaks in the temporal hairline.
 

The forehead procedure that is the best for you will ultimately depend on how much skin laxity you have, the  hairline position that you desire, and the types of incisions/scarring that is acceptable to you.
Best of luck!

Dr. Clevens

It's not a silly question and there are a lot of different names being offered in the media without explanation.

There are a number of techniques and modifications that are used by the  plastic surgeons and unfortunately there is not uniform terminology so that Brow Lift and Forehead lift can actually mean the same thing. A Brow Lift generally raises the outside (lateral) brow or the entire structure depending what is required.  A Forehead Lift is designed to lift the entire forehead minimizing deep transverse wrinkles and furrows.  Similar techniques can be used for both procedures, including minimal and hidden scar techniques, which often times use an endoscopic (surgical telescope) approach through remote incisions behind the hairline.The important thing is that the procedure is individualized to match  the patient’s desires and requirements such as lowering the hairline, or lifting just the outside of the brow which often droops before the middle part.  This will determine where the incision is placed.   It is important to select a board certified plastic surgeon experienced in all of these techniques, so the procedure can be individualized to your needs.  For example, if you have a high hair line or a receding hair line, the incision will be made at the hair line.  By using a beveling incision technique under magnification to preserve maximum hair follicles, the scar will be minimized as individual hairs will grow into the scar camouflaging it in many cases so that you could wear your hair pulled back.

Endoscopic brow lifts are commonly performed   The operation is done using an endoscope (a narrow hollow surgical telescope with a fiber optic light source and camera) and a small specialized instrumentation.  Endoscopic forehead-lifts use several short incision placed behind the hair line.

The terms are most commonly used interchangeably by most surgeons since typically the brows and forehead are lifted together.  There is a way to lift the brows without lifting the forehead (direct brow lift) but it is not  a common procedure.

  Excellent question.  Most of the time, the term browlift and forehead lift may be used interchangeably, and I commonly do this in my discussion with patients.  Rarely, one may have a browlift without having the forehead lifted as in a direct browlift but ususally this procedure is not done in patients concerned with cosmesis.