In short
- ⚠️ “Temporal lift” names two different operations. One acts on the tail of the brow and the temple through a short incision. The other is a midface lift by a temporal route, with wide dissection, which also raises the brow.
- The short version lifts a little and with a very benign profile. In a series of 71 patients, the lift was 1.8 to 1.9 mm and complications 1.4%.
- 🔑 And an interesting finding from that series: it lifted the medial and the lateral parts of the brow equally, with no significant difference between the three points measured.
- The extensive version achieves more and costs more. In a series of 250 cases followed for six years, there was unilateral neurapraxia of the frontal branch of the facial nerve in 5.6%, resolving spontaneously in a mean of 2.8 months, and 2.4% of reoperations — with no haematomas, necrosis, infections or seromas.
- Among brow techniques as a whole, the temporal or lateral one has the highest rate of asymmetry — and that rate is 1.5%, the lowest of all the “highest rates” of the various techniques.
- The tail of the brow is the first thing to drop and what recovers most with any brow technique.
- ⚠️ Its limit is that it only treats the lateral part. If the whole brow has dropped or the problem is the forehead, it falls short.
If you have searched for “temporal lift” you will have found two very different things described by the same words: in some places, a short day-case manoeuvre on the tail of the brow; in others, an extensive operation that repositions the whole midface.
Both exist, both are called that in the literature, and they have neither the same reach nor the same risk. This page separates them.
Why the tail of the brow is the first thing to drop
There is a simple anatomical reason.
The frontalis muscle is the only elevator of the brow, and its action is concentrated in the central and medial parts. The tail of the brow lies, to a large extent, beyond its reach: it has nothing to raise it, and it does have muscles pulling it down and gravity working against it.
The result is an uneven descent: the tail drops sooner and further. And that produces two effects people describe without knowing where they come from — the gaze that looks tired on the outside, and the excess skin that gathers at the outer corner of the eyelid.
🔑 That is why surgery on the tail of the brow is the smallest manoeuvre in the upper third and at the same time the one most people need. And it is why studies of lift agree that the tail is the zone that rises most with conventional techniques: between 3.8 and 4.35 mm against 2.41-3.25 mm at the head of the brow.
Operation 1: the temporal brow lift
What it is. A short incision inside the hair of the temple, through which the temporal plane is reached and the tail of the brow is lifted and fixed in its new position. In its camera version it is known as an endoscopic temporal lift, although the endoscope is not essential: in the brow lift practised here it is dispensed with and the work is done through a subcutaneous tunnel, with fewer incisions and less undermining.
What anaesthetic, and how long you stay. General anaesthetic, day case: you come in and go home the same day.
⚠️ Being the smallest manoeuvre in the upper third does not make it a minor procedure. It is done in theatre and under general anaesthetic, just like the others. What is small is the reach of what it corrects, not the setting in which it is done.
What it achieves. Here there is a series with measurements, and it is worth reading slowly because the figures are more modest than people expect:
In 71 patients operated on by this approach — from a cohort of 159 brow surgery patients — with a mean age of 56.6, the mean lift was:
- 1.8 ± 1.7 mm at the mid-pupillary line
- 1.9 ± 1.8 mm at the medial canthus
- 1.8 ± 1.7 mm at the lateral canthus
🔑 And the relevant detail: there was no significant difference between the three locations. That is, this short approach lifted the brow uniformly, not just the tail. The authors highlight it because it contradicts what was assumed of a lateral technique.
At what risk. The complication rate in that series was 1.4%, with a mean follow-up of around eight months. There was one recurrence that required the procedure to be repeated.
For whom. The authors recommend it for mild to moderate brow ptosis.
⚠️ Its limit is its own reach. It does not treat the forehead, it does not treat the glabella and it does not replace a full approach when the brow has dropped markedly.
Operation 2: the temporal midface lift
What it is. A different operation, with the same name. It is also reached through the temple, but the dissection continues downwards to the deep plane of the midface, so that in the same procedure the cheekbone is lifted, the outer corner of the eye is reinforced and the brow is raised.
What it achieves. It is a lift of the midface and the upper third in a single procedure, with a vertical vector.
At what risk. A series of 250 patients operated on over six years by a single surgeon publishes the following:
- ⚠️ Unilateral neurapraxia of the frontal branch of the facial nerve in 5.6% — the brow on that side does not rise — resolving spontaneously in a mean of 2.8 months.
- Persistent dimpling in 2.8%, resolved by around the fifth month.
- Reoperation in 2.4% of patients.
- No haematomas, no necrosis, no infections and no seromas.
One demographic figure stands out in that series: the mean age was 37, and 248 of the 250 patients were women.
🔑 The comparison between the two operations is the lesson of this page: the one that does more also has more adverse effects — 5.6% of brows that temporarily do not rise against 1.4% of complications overall — although in both cases the absolute figures are low and the disturbances temporary.
⚠️ And it has to be said what these sources are: single-surgeon series, with no comparison group. They are the best published on these techniques, not a trial.
🔑 Both are performed at ICPM, and the temporal midface lift is carried out by Dr Abel Llinás Porte and Dr Alessandro Thione. That it is an operation with greater reach — and with that 5.6% of brows that temporarily do not rise — is precisely why it is not indicated lightly: it is proposed when what has to be corrected is the midface, not when the tail of the brow is enough.
Where it fits among the other techniques
In the systematic review of 76 studies that compared the complication profiles of the various brow techniques, the temporal or lateral one turned out to have the highest rate of asymmetry of them all.
It is worth reading that sentence carefully, because it sounds worse than it is: that highest rate is 1.5%, while the “highest rates” of the other techniques are 7.4% (revision, in the hairline technique), 5.5% (numbness, in the direct one) and 2.8% (alopecia, in the endoscopic one).
🔑 Put another way: the temporal approach is the one that comes off best of the lot, and its weak point is symmetry between the two sides.
The full picture of the six families of technique is on the general brow lift page, and the endoscopic-versus-open comparison on the endoscopic lift page.
What a temporal lift does not do
- It does not treat forehead lines. And it is worth remembering that no brow operation improves them lastingly: in a 5.4-year follow-up they returned to baseline.
- It does not treat the eyelid. If there is excess eyelid skin with the brow well positioned, that is a blepharoplasty. How the two are told apart is on the drooping eyelids page.
- It does not treat a high forehead. Shortening one is a forehead reduction, which is another operation and goes in the opposite direction.
- It does not replace a facelift. If the laxity is in the cheek, the jawline or the neck, that is another territory: it is explained on the page on what a facelift covers.
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Frequently asked questions
What exactly is a temporal lift?
It depends who is using the words. It can mean a short manoeuvre on the tail of the brow through an incision in the temple, or a wider operation that by that same route also lifts the cheekbone and the outer corner of the eye. Before comparing two quotations you have to ask which of the two it is.
How much does it lift?
In the series with measurements available, the short approach lifted between 1.8 and 1.9 mm, with no significant difference between the medial and lateral parts of the brow. It is a discreet lift, in keeping with what is sought in mild or moderate ptosis.
Why has only the outer part of my brow dropped?
Because the frontalis muscle, which is the only one that raises the brow, acts mainly on its central and medial parts. The tail is largely left without muscular support, and that is why it descends sooner and further.
Is it minor surgery?
The short version has a very benign profile: 1.4% complications in the series available. The wider midface version is not: in a series of 250 cases there was 5.6% neurapraxia of the frontal branch, all resolving spontaneously in a mean of 2.8 months.
Could one side end up higher than the other?
It is the most characteristic complication of this approach. In the review of 76 studies, the temporal or lateral technique had the highest rate of asymmetry among all brow techniques — and that rate was 1.5%.
Does it leave a visible scar?
The incision goes inside the hair of the temple. Like any scalp incision, it may be accompanied by a strip of alopecia along the scar, which is usually temporary.
Is it combined with other operations?
Frequently, above all with upper blepharoplasty, because in many cases the eyelid and the brow are both part of the same problem.
Sources
- Rohrich RJ, Cho MJ. Endoscopic Temporal Brow Lift: Surgical Indications, Technique, and 10-Year Outcome Analysis. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2019. PMID 31764641. — Retrospective review of patients operated on between 2008 and 2018: of 159 brow surgery patients, 71 had an endoscopic temporal lift, with a mean age of 56.6, a mean body mass index of 22.9 and 99% women; lift of 1.8 ± 1.7 mm at the mid-pupillary line, 1.9 ± 1.8 mm at the medial canthus and 1.8 ± 1.7 mm at the lateral canthus, with no significant differences between the three locations (p = 0.48); complication rate of 1.4% with a mean follow-up of 231.7 days and one recurrence requiring the procedure to be repeated; the authors recommend the technique for mild to moderate brow ptosis.
- Şirinoglu H, Ergün Tatar B, Güvercin E. Long Terms Results of Temporal Facelift: 6 Years of Experience in 250 Cases. The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, 2025. PMID 39641911. — Retrospective study of 250 of 441 patients operated on by a single surgeon with a temporal lift — dissection plane above the subgaleal fascia transitioning to the sub-SMAS plane in the midface, with canthopexy and brow elevation: 248 women and 2 men, mean age 37; unilateral neurapraxia of the frontal branch of the facial nerve in 5.6%, resolving spontaneously in a mean of 2.8 months; persistent dimpling in 2.8%, resolved by around the fifth month; revision surgery in 2.4%; no haematomas, necrosis, infections or seromas.
- Cho MJ, Carboy JA, Rohrich RJ. Complications in Brow Lifts: A Systemic Review of Surgical and Nonsurgical Brow Rejuvenations. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open, 2018. PMID 30534495. — 76 studies: the temporal or lateral technique had the highest rate of asymmetry (1.5%), against the highest revision rate in the hairline lift (7.4%), the highest numbness rate in the direct technique (5.5%) and the highest alopecia rate in the endoscopic one (2.8%).
- Karanfilian T, et al. Long-Term Brow Lift Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2026. PMID 40788666. — 22 studies and 2,127 brows: lift maintained at 3.8 mm at the lateral brow, 3.02 mm at the central brow and 2.41 mm at the medial brow.
- Jones BM, Lo SJ. The impact of endoscopic brow lift on eyebrow morphology, aesthetics, and longevity. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2013. PMID 23897351. — The improvement in horizontal forehead lines was temporary and had returned to baseline at 5.4 years.
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If what bothers you is specifically the outer part of the brow and the sense of a drooping gaze on that side, it is a consultation that resolves quickly: the position of the brow is examined with the forehead relaxed and it becomes clear whether a short manoeuvre is enough or whether something wider is needed. It is assessed at our practice in Valencia.
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Last reviewed: 6 September 2026. This content is for information only and does not replace an individual assessment by a healthcare professional.
