Cutis Laxa and Endoscopic Brow Lift, Can It Help?

Cutis laxa (a condition where the skin is loose from birth) is caused by an abnormality that damages the collagen and elastin in the skin and in some organs. It makes the skin wrinkled like an older person’s and makes some organs look like those of older adults. Young children can have loose facial skin, and some organs may not work as they should for their age.

Causes of Wrinkled Skin in Cutis Laxa

• Genetics A fault in the genes that control tissue protein production, such as Fibulin-5, ELN and FBLN5, makes the skin and blood vessels lose elasticity. There are 3 types:
  • ADCL, or autosomal dominant cutis laxa, which is usually milder, with problems mainly in the skin and joints
  • ARCL, or autosomal recessive cutis laxa, which affects internal organs such as the heart, blood vessels and lungs
  • X-linked cutis laxa, or occipital horn syndrome, which is linked to the X chromosome and affects how the body transports and supplies nutrients internally
• It can also be caused by some conditions that develop later in life, seen in adults, such as autoimmune disease or taking certain medicines for a long time. These make the skin wrinkle into folds and the face and other parts of the body look wrinkled and age early.

Signs of Cutis Laxa

• loose, sagging skin that lacks elasticity
• a wrinkled face that looks older than your age
• deep wrinkles, especially on the face, neck and armpits
• skin that is not elastic and returns slowly when pinched and stretched

Other Symptoms Seen With Wrinkled Skin Include

• unusually loose joints
• heart and blood vessel problems
• emphysema and hernias
• digestive system conditions

The condition is diagnosed with a skin biopsy to look for abnormalities, a check of your family history and an ultrasound scan of the internal organs to see how they are affected.

When cutis laxa is found, the problems it causes can be reduced and the symptoms can be treated and relieved, especially by improving the skin so it is closer to normal. Medical techniques have been developed to care for, treat and restore people with this condition so they can go back to daily life with confidence, such as:

• facial lifting procedures
• endoscopic brow lift

Endoscopic Brow Lift for a Stern Look and Sagging Skin

Surgical techniques to care for and reduce problems caused by abnormalities, or to correct features that affect your confidence, can do more than reduce the problems of cutis laxa so you look closer to your age again. They can also help people with sagging skin, wrinkles, nasolabial folds, marionette lines or other concerns.

Although cutis laxa is rare and the chance of it happening is low, if you have it and want to restore elasticity to your skin and live like other people, endoscopic brow lift can help reduce the problem. The surgeon also needs to assess other issues and whether other types of surgery are needed, such as rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, chin augmentation, forehead contouring and others, to balance the face.

Endoscopic brow lift aims for a result that suits your face, with a detailed facial lift based on the surgeon’s experience. Endoscopic brow lift programme

• helps with drooping brows, narrow brows and drooping outer eye corners
• a tired or older-looking face
• small incisions, which may mean less swelling and bruising, and no incisions on the face
• the muscle layer is lifted to help the face look firmer
• a result that aims to keep your face looking like you and can last a long time, depending on each person

The surgeon positions the lift to suit each person’s facial proportions
After surgery, the eyes may look brighter and the face softer and younger.

This surgery can change the whole face. It can help sagging facial skin, including in cutis laxa, look firmer, with more balanced, softer facial proportions, lifted outer eye corners and brows, brighter eyes, shallower nasolabial folds and a younger-looking face, depending on each person. The surgeon considers what suits each case. If there are several problems together with other areas, the surgeon may recommend other surgery as well, such as rhinoplasty, chin augmentation or forehead augmentation, for a result you are satisfied with.

For people with cutis laxa, aesthetic surgery to tighten sagging skin lifts the skin only temporarily, and it suits people with problems in the upper face.

For other people who are concerned about sagging skin or a stern look, endoscopic brow lift can help tighten sagging skin for longer.