What Can Be Done For My Forehead Bumps And Prominent Brows?

Q: I am very self conscious about my forehead. I have a strong square jaw and a square forehead as well. I like it that way but my forehead has two bumps on either side (genes) below my hair line and I have two bumps (kind of an eyebrow ridge) over the beginning of the eyebrow above my nose. Can these two bumps near my hairline be chiseled as well as the eyebrow ridge? You can especially see the unevenness under a light directly on top and overall it makes me look way too rough or mean.

A: Forehead irregularities and prominences can be either those that exist in the brow area (prominent brows) near the eyes or those that exist above the brows up to the hairline. They represent different types of bone problems and are treated differently. Forehead bumps are simple raised areas of excess bone that can be simply burred down. Prominent brows, however, are not bone thickenings but are expanded frontal sinuses. They may appear as prominent thick bone but it is largely air with very thin bone. They are treated through an osteotomy approach with bone reshaping and recontouring.

While both of these forehead type surgeries can be done, the rate-limiting step as to whether they should be done by the patient is the need for access to do the surgery. This requires some type of scalp incision. Whether this trade-off of a scar is worth it to the patient must be decided on an individual basis.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana