Elevate Your Look: Exploring Non-Surgical Brow Lift Options

Author

Dr. Stephen Cosentino

For decades, patients tired of deepening frown lines, forehead wrinkles, and sagging upper eyelids had a reliable solution: a surgical brow lift or forehead lift. The only catch: This particular surgical procedure costs around $4,000, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

That cost doesn’t include operating room fees, anesthesiologist fees, and other expenses that collectively can add thousands of dollars to the total bill.

And if you’re familiar with the economics of elective cosmetic surgery at all, you can probably guess the worst part: Health insurance rarely covers brow lift surgery.

Times have changed. Today, patients in the same position have several more affordable, less invasive alternatives.

Best Non-Surgical Brow Lift Options

Want to restore that youthful look and feel to your brow, but not willing to pay for more invasive procedures or deal with the lengthy recovery time? No problem. Here’s what you can do.

PDO Thread Brow Lift

A PDO thread lift is a type of minimally invasive surgery, if you can even call it surgery. Using thin, barbed sutures guided by a high-gauge needle, the provider gently lifts the eyebrow and tightens the excess, sagging skin responsible for that “tired” look around the eyes.

A PDO thread lift produces temporary results that fade over a period of months as the sutures dissolve harmlessly into the skin. Patients who want to maintain the results may need to return for a follow-up procedure, or try one of the other alternatives below. But because this procedure is so much less expensive than a surgical brow lift procedure, those follow-up visits don’t carry the same financial sting.

If you’re considering a threaded brow lift, review the different types of PDO thread lift procedures and consult your aesthetic medicine provider to put together a custom treatment plan.

Chemical Brow Lift (Botox & Alternatives)

A chemical brow lift is another name for a botulinum toxin (or abotulinum toxin) brow lift. Boto®x (botulinum toxin) and Dysport® (abotulinum toxin) are the two most commonly used formulations.

When injected into the muscles just above the eyebrows, Botox and Dysport can temporarily reduce or eliminate the “droop” associated with age. The effect is a gentle arching of the eyebrows that makes you look more alert and youthful.

Like PDO brow lifts, Botox and Dysport brow lifts have minimal recovery time. Many patients return to work the same day as the procedure, although there’s often noticeable swelling around the injection site for a few days afterward. Serious side effects are very rare; most are mild and temporary.

Dermal Filler Injections

Finally, targeted dermal filler injections can combat volume loss around the eyebrows. Hyaluronic acid fillers are the most popular and shortest-lived, but still provide noticeable results for 6 to 12 months after injection. Calcium hydroxylapatite fillers stimulate the body’s natural collagen production and more sustainably increase volume, sometimes for 2 years or longer.

Like PDO brow lifts and Botox/Dysport, dermal filler injections have minimal recovery time and few serious side effects. The biggest risk is injection into a blood vessel, which can cause blood clots.