Can Eyebrow Lowering Be Successfully Done Using A Tissue Expander?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have some questions regarding eyebrow lowering through tissue expander. My eyebrows sit naturally too high on my face, which give me a feminine look. I know that Botox can lower them but not to the extent that I want, I think. My questions are: 

1. Do you offer this procedure? 

2. Will the expander be located right above my eyebrows, in the middle of my forehead or near my hairline? 

3. While using the expander, will my appearance be too unsettling, kind of like if I have some sort of tumor? 

4. How long would I have to use the expander? I know it’s difficult to say exactly, but do you think it would be longer than one month or longer than two months? 

Thanks in advance.

A: The concept of lowering the brow position by tissue expansion is a theoretically sound one but has several caveats to it:

1) Short term tissue expansion will not work as all the expanded tissues will quickly retract from when they came. Short term tissue expansion would only work if a physical block (brow bone implant) was placed to prevent the tissue from shrinking back up.  

2) It takes long term tissue expansion (3 to 6 months) to eliminate tissue recoil….which would be socially unsettling/unacceptable to go through.

3) The placement of the tissue expander always work best when it is closest to the tissue site that needs expanding.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana