Subcutaneous Forehead Lift

Purpose: The purpose is to present an useful and simple surgical method to improve the aging of upper third face in patients with high frontal hairline as well as low frontal hairline. Methods: Forty eight female patients were treated with subcutaneous forehead lift using an anterior hairline incision over 14 years. This surgical technique is performed under direct vision utilizing a beveled incision made 4 to 5 mm into the anterior hairline with subcutaneous dissection, which is continued near to eyebrow, sometimes extended to supraorbital rim to remove corrugator and procerus muscles. In patients with high frontal hairline, excess forehead skin anterior to incision line is removed. On the contrary in the patients with low frontal hairline, scalp posterior to incision line is removed. Results: This technique provided constant and good results with the forty six patients, who were satisfied with eyebrow elevation and removal of wrinkles in forehead and glabellar region. However two patients were undercorrected, and focal alopecia developed in another two patients. One patient complained of pruritus over one year, but subsided spontaneously without any treatment. Temporary paresthesia developed in the forehead and frontal scalp of all cases after operation but permanent sensory loss never occurred in all the patients. Conclusion: Subcutaneous forehead lift using an anterior hairline incision is suggested to be one of the effective surgical methods to improve the aging of upper third face in the patients with high frontal hairline as well as low frontal hairline.