Compassionate Care & Beautiful Results
Eyelid Surgery (Blepharoplasty)
Blepharoplasty can enhance your appearance as well as your self-confidence. As people age, the eyelid skin can stretch, muscles often weaken, and fat tends to accumulate around the eyes . This can result in "bags" forming above and below or a droopy look around the eyes. Sometimes these problems occur in younger people if droopy or baggy eyelids run in your family. Upper eyelids and lower eyelids can be addressed at the same time or each separately. The procedures are significantly different, but the recovery is very similar. Eyelid surgery can be the right answer to correct these conditions.
Who is a Candidate?
- If you have excessive, sagging or wrinkled upper or lower eyelid skin.
- If you have excess upper eyelid skin that interferes with vision.
- If you have lost your natural upper eyelid crease.
- If you have puffy pouches of fat in the upper or lower lids that create a tired or aged appearance.
Intended Result
- A more youthful and rested appearance of the eyes.
- Widening of visual fields if excessive upper lid skin has partially blocked vision.
- It will not remove or erase all wrinkle lines. It will soften wrinkle lines.
Procedure Description
- The operation is done as an outpatient procedure under sedation and local or general anesthesia.
- The incisions are made where the natural crease should be in the upper lids and below the lash line in the lower lids. Excess fat and skin are removed.
- If only excess fat is present in the lower lids, it may be removed through an incision inside the lower lids with no external incision or scar (transconjunctival blepharoplasty).
Recuperation and Healing
- All sutures are usually removed within 4-6 days.
- Initial mild discomfort is easily controlled with oral medication.
- Bruising and sensitivity to light last at least a week or two. Swelling progressively disappears over several weeks.
- Eye makeup can be used shortly after sutures are removed.
- Contact lenses can be worn when comfortable -- usually within 7-10 days.
- This is general information to prepare patients for surgery and not a reference for our post-operative patients.
Insurance Questions
Occasionally, certain insurance plans will cover the cost of an upper eyelid blepharoplasty. They never pay for lower eyelid surgery. If surgery is being done to improve the field of vision, insurance may help cover upper lid surgery. Otherwise, these procedures are considered cosmetic and the patient is responsible for payment.
- Our office deals with this question all the time and will be glad to review this situation for you. However, predetermination is required and that process can take several weeks.
Other Options
- Additional procedures that would enhance the result are: Face Lift, Forehead Lift, Chemical Peel or Laser Skin Resurfacing.
The specific risks and the suitability of this procedure for a given individual can be determined only at the time of consultation. All surgical procedures have some degree of risk. Minor complications that do not affect the outcome occur occasionally. Major complications are rare.