What is eyelid surgery?
Cosmetic eyelid surgery improves the appearance of the upper eyelids, lower eyelids, or both.
Specifically, eyelid surgery can treat:
- Loose or sagging skin that creates folds or disturbs the natural contour of the upper eyelid, sometimes impairing vision
- Excess fatty deposits that appear as puffiness in the upper eyelids
- Bags under the eyes
- Droopiness of the lower eyelids, showing white below the iris (colored portion of the eye)
- Excess skin and fine wrinkles of the lower eyelid
Is eyelid surgery right for me?
Eyelid surgery is usually performed on adult men and women who have healthy facial tissue and muscles and have realistic goals for improvement of the upper and/or lower eyelids and surrounding area.
Good candidates for eyelid surgery include:
- Healthy individuals who do not have a life-threatening illness or medical conditions that can impair healing
- Non-smokers
- Individuals with a positive outlook and specific goals in mind for blepharoplasty
- Individuals without serious eye conditions
You must tell your doctor if you have any of these medical conditions:
- Eye disease such as glaucoma, dry eye or a detached retina
- Thyroid disorders such as graves’ disease and under or overactive thyroid
- Cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or other circulatory disorders or diabetes
What happens during eyelid surgery?
Anesthetic medications are administered for your comfort during the surgical procedures. The choices include intravenous sedation and general anesthesia.
The incision lines for eyelid surgery are designed for scars to be well concealed within the natural structures of the eyelid region. Droopy conditions of the upper eyelid can be corrected through an incision within the natural crease of the upper eyelid allowing repositioning of fat deposits, tightening of muscles and tissue, and/or removal of excess skin.
Conditions of the lower eyelid may be corrected with an incision just below the lower lash line. Through this incision, excess skin in the lower eyelids is removed.
A transconjunctival incision, one hidden inside the lower eyelid, is an alternate technique to correct lower eyelid conditions and redistribute or remove excess fat.
At the end of surgery, incisions are usually closed with removable or absorbable sutures, skin adhesives or surgical tape
Your surgeon may use a laser chemical peel to erase dark discoloration of the lower eyelids.
The results of eyelid surgery will appear gradually as swelling and bruising subside to reveal a smooth, better-defined eyelid and surrounding region, and an alert and rejuvenated appearance.
What is eyelid surgery recovery like?
If you experience shortness of breath, chest pains, or unusual heart beats, seek medical attention immediately. Should any of these complications occur, you may require hospitalization and additional treatment.
After your procedure is completed, lubricating ointment and cold compresses may be applied, and in some cases your eyes may be loosely covered with gauze.
You will be given specific instructions that may include: how to care for your eyes, medications to apply or take orally to aid healing and reduce the potential for infection, specific concerns to look for at the surgical site or in your overall health, and when to follow-up with your plastic surgeon.
Initial healing may include some swelling, bruising, irritation or dry eyes and discomfort that can be controlled with medication, cold compresses and ointment. Irritation at the incision sites also is possible.
You must practice diligent sun protection and use darkly tinted sunglasses until the healing process is fully complete.
Your final results will appear within several weeks, but it may take up to a year for incision lines to fully refine.
While eyelid surgery can be expected to correct certain conditions permanently, you will continue to age naturally. Life-long sun protection will help to maintain your results.
What are the risks of eyelid surgery?
When eyelid surgery is performed by a qualified plastic surgeon, complications are infrequent and usually minor. The practice of medicine and surgery is not an exact science. Although good results are expected, there is no guarantee. In some situations, it may not be possible to achieve optimal results with a single surgical procedure and another surgery may be necessary.
Possible risks of eyelid surgery include:
- Unfavorable scarring
- Temporarily blurred or impaired vision
- Dry eyes
- Difficulty closing your eyes
- Lid lag, a pulling down of the lower eyelid may occur and is often temporary
- Ectropion, rolling of the eyelid outwards
- Bleeding (hematoma)
- Poor wound healing
- Infection
- Fluid accumulation
- Blood clots
- Numbness and other changes in skin sensation
- Anesthesia risks
- Pain, which may persist
- Skin discoloration and swelling
- Sutures may spontaneously surface through the skin,
- become visible or produce irritation that require removal
- Deep vein thrombosis, cardiac and pulmonary complications
- Possibility of revisional surgery
- Loss of eyesight
Fibrin sealants (made from human blood components heat-treated to inactivate virus transmission) are used to hold tissue layers together at surgery and to diminish post-operative bruising following surgery.
This product has been carefully produced from donor blood plasma screened for hepatitis, syphilis, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). These products have been used safely for many years as sealants in cardiovascular and general surgery.