There is no simple answer to the question of how much does a brow lift cost in the UK. That is because numerous factors can influence its price. The type of procedure you opt for, the clinic and surgeon you choose, and many additional fees and services can make this amount highly variable.
You are the only true expert when it comes to your cosmetic needs and preferences, as well as your budget. So it is up to you to decide if a brow lift is worth it or if you would be better off with a forehead reduction surgery or a big forehead hair transplant. However, we are here to provide you with all the necessary data to make an informed decision. This article will tell you everything you need to know about:
A brow lift is a treatment performed to reposition and rejuvenate your eyebrow and forehead area. It is usually performed for sagging eyebrows (brow ptosis) [1][2] but sometimes, people may get it for other cosmetic purposes as well. These include shaping your eyebrows to suit your face shape, slightly modifying the orientation of your eyes, rejuvenating your upper eyelid or removing forehead wrinkles [3].
When thinking about a brow lift, most people have the surgical intervention in mind. This procedure can be invasive, as several techniques involve making incisions into your scalp or forehead and removing excess skin. However, in recent years, the less invasive endoscopic brow lifts have been gaining popularity, for their faster recovery times and minimal scarring.
If you would like a brow lift but are not eligible or interested in getting surgery, there are also non-surgical options available. You could get Botox or dermal filler injections which relax your brow muscles, and smoothen your forehead, providing the appearance of lift and tightness.
The cost of a brow lift surgery can vary widely in the UK, depending on the following factors:
On average, you can expect a surgical brow lift to cost between £3000-£6000 in the UK, if you are using the services of a reputable cosmetic clinic. However, prices can start as low as £2500 and go as high as £9000, depending on any additional services which may or may not need to be paid separately, such as:
It is true that a brow lift procedure can be significantly less expensive in Turkey, where prices start as low as £1000-£1200. However, what the UK has to offer is increased safety and a low risk of brow lift failure or post-operative complications. A survey conducted in 2021 by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons revealed that 100% of plastic surgery complications occurred in Turkish clinics [4]. So be sure to watch out for Turkish clinic red flags before scheduling your procedure.
If you want to get a brow lift safely and on a tighter budget, you can always opt for a non-surgical treatment. Using Botox or dermal filler injections to lift your eyebrows normally costs between £200-£600 per treatment. Provided the fact that, depending on the substance used, the effects of these procedures can last between 3 months and 2 years, they may be more cost-effective than brow lift surgery in the long run, especially if you’re not looking for dramatic improvements in your appearance.
Unfortunately, the NHS does not normally cover cosmetic procedures, such as a brow lift. That is also why you cannot get a hair transplant on the NHS. The only circumstance under which you might be eligible to get this type of treatment is if your health or vision is significantly affected by the position of your brow (e.g. if it is the result of facial paralysis or nerve damage and it is in some way debilitating ).
Your health provider can probably assess whether this is your situation. But normally, you are very likely to have to pay for your brow lift out of pocket.
Whether or not any type of cosmetic treatment is worth it depends significantly on individual factors. These can be the severity of the problem you are trying to correct, your expectations regarding the outcome, the cost-satisfaction ratio, the likelihood of complications and more.
A brow lift can be an effective way of correcting some of your brow sagging, lifting your eyelids and smoothening your forehead. However, it is a good idea to manage your expectations. Most surgical techniques will likely only lift your brow by up to 1 cm. As for non-surgical methods, Botox injections have, on average, a 1 mm effect on your central brow and a 4.8 mm effect on your lateral brow [5].
If you understand and accept these limitations, this procedure may serve you well. If you are hoping to significantly narrow your forehead, or fix a messed up hairline, you may be better off with a hair transplant to lower your hairline.
While a brow lift is also known as a forehead lift, it is often confused with a forehead reduction. While these procedures can be similar and a pretrichial brow lift can lower your hairline, they are not the same, as they serve different purposes.
While a brow lift is meant to elevate and rejuvenate your eyelid, eyebrow and forehead area, forehead reduction surgery is meant to reduce the excessive distance between your eyebrows and your hairline. It is more similar to a hairline-lowering hair transplant. Not every kind of brow lift will lower your hairline or reduce the size of your forehead, many will simply reduce sagginess around your brow area.
There are several types of brow lifts to choose from, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The best thing you can do is to discuss openly the best options for you with your plastic surgeon.
Here are the most common ways in which a brow lift surgery can be performed [5][6][7]:
Type of brow lift
Main characteristics
Endoscopic browlift
(small incisions are made under the hairline to insert an endoscope. With this tool, the surgeon gently lifts the brow tissue, improving its position)
Mid-forehead browlift
(An incision is made in a deep, existing wrinkle in your forehead. Then, your forehead is lifted, the skin is pulled up and the excess tissue is removed)
Transblepharoplasty browlift
(performed together with an eyelid lift, it involves accessing your brow through your upper eyelids. The muscles and tissues are repositioned and fixed with sutures)
Direct browlift
(The excess skin along the upper edge of your eyebrow is cut out and your brow is readjusted)
(Pre-) trichial browlift
(An incision is made under the skin along your hairline, from one temple to the other. Then, the forehead skin flap is draped back over the incision, lifting your eyebrow. The excess skin is removed.)
Coronal browlift
(a headphone-shaped, ear-to-ear incision is made above your hairline, pulling your skin up and removing the excess)
The most frequently used non-surgical brow lifts are as follows [5]:
Chemical (Botox) brow lifts – a specially trained technician injects your brow or your crow’s feet area with Botox normally used for smoothing wrinkles. This substance relaxes the muscles that make your brow sag and make your skin look tighter around the injection area. It can also slightly modify the arch of your brow or help straighten overly-curved eyebrows.
Despite what some cosmeticians claim, Botox injections do not promote hair growth, so they are unlikely to help with any eyebrow hair loss. However, if you would like to also get fuller brows you can also get an eyebrow hair transplant alongside your brow lift.
Liquid (dermal filler) brow lifts – dermal fillers containing hyaluronic acid are injected into your brow area, plumping it up, raising and slightly reshaping it. These gels can also enhance the contour of your eyebrows (sometimes too much, giving them an unnatural appearance).
The duration of your brow lift depends on a number of factors, such as the type of procedure you had, your age, genetics and the way your body responds to the procedure. Normally, plastic surgeons say you can expect to enjoy its results for approximately 10-12 years. Some of them even claim that the results are permanent. Nevertheless, certain types of surgery (e.g. direct browlift or mid-forehead browlift) are believed to have lower longevity [5].
There are currently no clinical trials to attest to how long the average brow lift can last. Some scientists are questioning the longevity and effectiveness of this type of surgery, calling for specific research to shed light on these aspects [1] However, a hairline-lowering hair transplant is permanent, so you may want to take that into consideration.
When it comes to non-surgical brow lifts, depending on the substances used to perform the procedure, their effects are believed to last between 3 months and 2 years. While Botox injections normally wear off sooner (3-4 months), dermal fillers can hold you for up to 2 years.
Depending on what kind of brow lift you are considering, it is good to know that you may be facing some complications. Here are the main risks you would be facing:
Like every surgery, a brow lift carries some potential unwanted side effects. A meta-review of 82 studies looking into surgical brow lift complications reveals the following risks [8]:
Even if you opt for non-surgical methods, there are still some adverse reactions you could be facing, such as:
Indeed, certain types of brow lift surgery can cause temporary (or, rarely, permanent) hair thinning around the incision site. A coronal-type procedure, for example, produces incisional hair loss in 20% of patients [5]. This happens as your natural hair growth cycle is disrupted by the intervention and your hair follicles are forced prematurely into the shedding phase – it is a similar phenomenon to shock loss after hair transplant surgery.
However, the good news is that in most cases, you can expect to see spontaneous hair regrowth in 3-6 months after surgery. If your hair loss doesn’t improve after half a year, it is a good idea to see a trichologist, to rule out other types of alopecia.
If you had a brow lift over 6 months ago and you are still experiencing frontal balding, the best thing you can do is to book a consultation with one of our top-tier hair doctors. They will examine you and perform the necessary trichology tests to determine if your hair shedding is indeed caused by your brow lift or if there is another reason your hair may be falling out.
Other conditions such as traction alopecia or a receding hairline caused by androgenetic alopecia or frontal fibrosing alopecia could also be causing hair shedding in your forehead area. And if that is the case, some of them may require treatment to curb and restore your hair growth (e.g. medications such as Minoxidil or Finasteride, or, depending on your condition, steroid injections for hair loss).
Even if your brow lift surgery indeed produces your alopecia, if your hair is not growing back on its own, you will still likely need treatment. Your trichologist may recommend hair loss medication and/or therapies to stimulate your follicles for hair growth (e.g. PRP hair treatments, or derma rolling for hair growth). Should all these treatments fail, you may still be a good candidate for a hair transplant.
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