Can My Growing Brow Bone Be Reduced?

Q: Hello Dr Eppley. I am now 23 years old and up until the age of 18 I had a flat brow bone. Now it bulges out unevenly and hangs over my eyes. I look completely different now. It may have happened after I scrubbed my brows with a scourer to remove hair dye 5 years ago. It really is since then that it has happened. My brow bone was not meant to be like this, I look quite wierd now. My eyes were allways my best feature. I dont understand how this happened apart from the metal scourer incident. I really need some advice on how to rectify the problem if possible. I also have problems with my sinuses that may have something to do with it. Thank you for your time, I hope you can help.

A: This is not the first time that a patient has contacted me about having ‘brow bone growth’ in their early adult years. It is certainly possible that the brow bones can grow beyond the teenage years, although technically it is the growth or ongoing pneumatization of the underlying frontal sinuses. All I can say for sure is that the metal scourer event is not the cause. It is not possible to stimulate craniofacial bone growth by stimulating the overlying skin. It may or may not have sonmething to do with sinusitis or it could even be a sinus tumor. I would recommend getting a CT scan of the frontal sinuses/forehead to determine if this is just an overexpansion of the frontal sinus space or whether there may be an underlying sinus tumor. If it is just growth of the frontal sinus, then brow bone reduction can be considered.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana