Forehead Augmentation Surgery in Thailand

Forehead Augmentation Methods, Procedures, Recovery and Care

Women usually have curved, well-contoured, rounded foreheads with arching eyebrows, and minimal to no protruding brow bones. Men, on the other hand, have generally higher and broader foreheads with receding hairlines.

They also have thicker brow bones that are lower on the forehead.Forehead Augmentation or the use of a forehead implant, is a surgery that is performed to enhance and augment the shape and volume of the patient’s forehead with an implant or fat graft.

Forehead Augmentation Materials

Forehead Augmentation can be performed with:

• Fat Injection – In this procedure, the surgeon will harvest fat tissue from other parts of the body like the stomach, underarm, or thighs. The harvested fat is injected into the forehead to achieve the desired look. This procedure can be done in local anesthesia. The drawback of this surgery though, is that the results aren’t permanent, and injected fat will most likely be reabsorbed after 1-2 years.
• Bone Cement – This is the preferred material for forehead augmentation as it is stable, easily shaped, and lasts forever. Plus, materials like Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) won’t irritate or harm the body. This procedure takes about 2-3 hours.
• e-PTFE (Gore-Tex) – This type of synthetic material only triggers a minimal immune response from the body and can be utilized as a vascular graft. This material is porous and allows the body’s tissue to connect and to grow into it after the surgery to stabilize its position. Additional advantages of the e-PTFE are that it is flexible, malleable, easy to handle, and reliable. For this surgery, the surgeon will make an incision right above the ear to the other ear behind the hairline to insert the material and close the wound with stitches. Bone cement and e-PTFE procedures leave a sizable scar that can potentially cause numbness lasting approximately 3 to 6 months. The operation takes around 2-3 hours.
• Silicone sheet – This material is generally not used by experienced surgeons as it is not flexible and comes with predefined shapes and sizes difficult to reshape by surgeons.
  
  PMMA Customized Implant – This type of implant is made from polymethyl methacrylate and is customised. This advanced technology offers great anatomical fit and contour permitting surgeons to deliver excellent cosmetic results with decreased possibility of asymmetry. The surgery is also shorter compared to other techniques.

Forehead Augmentation Candidates

Good candidates for this are:

• Patients with narrow foreheads.
• Patients who are healthy with realistic expectations.
• Patients who are well informed of the potential risks and complications of the surgery.

Forehead Augmentation Preparation

Steps to do before the Forehead Augmentation Surgery.

• Consult with a skilled and experienced plastic surgeon the overall expectations from the surgery, share any existing medical conditions and treatments and go through potential risks and complications.
• Take medical tests as required by the surgeon which include the following: blood tests, electrolyte tests, HIV tests, Hepatitis B and C tests, and chest x-ray.
• Patients must stop smoking and drinking alcohol 2 weeks before the procedure.
• .All blood-thinning medications like Aspirin, Ibuprofen, hormones, and some supplements must be stopped 2 weeks before the surgery.

Forehead Augmentation Procedure

• Forehead Augmentation/Forehead Implant surgery is performed under general anesthesia.
• A 1-2 cm incision is made behind the patient’s hairline. The surgeon then creates space to insert the forehead implant and carefully places it over the patient’s forehead bone.
• After the implant is positioned, the surgeon closes the incision with sutures and sets a compression bandage on the forehead.

Post-Surgery Recovery

After surgery, the patients should follow these steps:

• Avoid all strenuous activities for 3-4 weeks after the surgery.
• Apply a cold compress to the forehead as needed for the first 3 to 4 days after the procedure to reduce discomfort and swelling.
• Patients should sleep with their heads elevated for 1 to 2 weeks after the surgery to help reduce the swelling.
• Use button-up shirts during the recovery process to avoid irritating the scalp.
• Wear the compression garment as much as possible for at least two weeks.

Forehead Augmentation Risks and Complications

Complications and risks are rare, but there are major surgery risks of infection, bleeding, and risks associated with anesthesia. Other risks may include:

• Infection from the fat graft, incision area, or implant.
• Hematoma
• Scarring
• Poor healing
• Bleeding
• The implant shifting positions (this can be fixed with screws)
• Forehead numbness near the incision site that can last a few weeks after surgery.
• Side effects associated with anesthesia

Forehead Augmentation Surgery Recovery

After surgery, patients may return to work after 2 weeks from the procedure. All heavy exercise must be avoided for a minimum of one month. Results will begin to be visible within one month from the operation, but the final result will be visible 3 to 6 months post-surgery.