How Can I Change The Shape Of My Forehead?

Q: I desire to have cosmetic surgery next year with the wishes of making my forehead larger both in length and width. Can you inform me with what this procedure is called and also with all the information there is to know on this surgery (including risks, the type of implants used, how long it takes for the healing process, the cost of the surgery, how you go about customizing the implant and etc). Please respond as soon as you can with a detailed response. Thanks so much.

A: You are specifically asking about forehead augmentation. This is a procedure done through a scalp incision approach Augmentation of the forehead contour can be done using any of the cranioplasty materials, which include PMMA (acrylic), HA (hydroxyapatite cement) and calcium carbonate. (Kryptonite) Each of these materials has its own advantages and disadvantages. Large forehead augmentations (which you are referring to) is best done with PMMA due to cost considerations.  These materials allow wide variability in adding to the brow ridges if desired and increasing the amount of frontal bone convexity, width and smoothness. These are liquid and powder mixtures that are put together and applied to the forehead in a putty form and then shaped by hand to the desired new forehead shape and allowed to harden. The operation takes about 2 hours and is done under general anesthesia as an outpatient procedure.

This is a highly successful procedure whose trade-off is a fine line scar in one’s scalp. The typical cost range for the procedure is $8500 – $9500. Healing is quite rapid and one can look fairly normal in about 10 days after the operation.  

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana