Dr. McCann Interviewed on Forehead Fracking
- Posted on: May 6 2018
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Forehead or eyebrow lifting surgery is a very powerful procedure to improve facial appearances. Many patients come to The Center For Facial Appearances requesting eyelid surgery whom also require a brow lift to achieve the best possible result. Dr. McCann states that, “After all, the upper eyelids are attached to the eyebrows and the relationship of the eyelids and eyebrows is much like a set of curtains which are held up by a curtain rod. If the curtain rod is bent or broken both the curtains and the curtain rod must be replaced to achieve a good aesthetic outcome. In the case of eyelids, if the eyebrows are low or misshaped removing skin from the eyelids will pull the eyebrows down instead of lifting the eyelids up. Any surgery that lowers eyebrows, that were already low prior to surgery, will make the patient appear to be overly concerned or angry and this is not the look patients want! In fact, one of the most common reasons patients seek facial plastic surgery is to have facial appearances which are more consistent with the internal emotional state. Patient do not want to look angry when they are not angry.”
When patients arrive for a consult requesting eyelid surgery and are told they also need an eyebrow lift it may sound like a bigger surgery. Using the modern techniques Dr. John McCann has pioneered, the addition of a forehead lift to eyelid surgery markedly enhances the result of surgery with almost no additional recovery. In order to lift the the forehead, it must first be separated from the underlying tissue. Early on Dr. McCann realized the separation technique required improvement because the techniques still utilized by most surgeons involve cutting or prying the soft tissue layers from the underlying tissue and even in the best of hands this is traumatic and is a big contributor to post-operative pain and prolonged recovery.
Several years ago while reading reports of how fracking is being used to inject fluid under pressure into the ground to separate subterranean layers, Dr. McCann got the idea of using this method to improve surgical outcomes. Dr. McCann says “forehead fracking is a big step forward because when using the fracking technique adding a forehead lift to eyelid surgery does not increase bruising, swelling, or the time of recovery. The technique involves injection of a dilute sterile solution of numbing medication with a pump in the plane where the forehead is to be separated from the underlying tissue. This results in a very gentle separation of the tissue planes, allowing for a more rapid recovery.” Dr. McCann performs several different types of forehead lifting techniques including direct eyebrow lifts, pre-trichial brow lifts, and endoscopic forehead lifts. “In each of these procedures the forehead fracking technique is the most important step because injecting fluid under pressure rapidly and gently separates the critical tissue planes.”
Dr. McCann says, “it has been very rewarding to be able to bring the benefits of forehead lifting surgery to a larger population of patients by discovering a way to perform the procedure in a fashion that does not add to the recovery of eyelid surgery. My favorite thing to do with any facial plastic surgery is to create more positive facial appearances. For instance, to take a person who’s low set eyebrows make them appear to be angry when they are not and reshaping the brows so that others first impression of the patient’s internal emotional state are consistent with the patient’s true feelings. For me, that is what cosmetic forehead lifting is all about.”
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