Eyelid
Aesthetic (Blepharoplasty)
The eyes are the window to your soul.
Average Stay
1 week
Duration of Hospital Stay
1 day
Duration of Operation
3-5 hours
Type of Anesthesia
Local-General Anesthesia
Recovery Time
2 weeks
What is eyelid aesthetic?
Eyelid surgery (also called an eyelid lift or blepharoplasty) tightens and lifts sagging eyelid skin.
For most patients, the goal of eyelid surgery is to look younger and less tired.
It can be done on upper lids, to raise hooded or droopy eyelids, and on the lower lids, to remove eye bags and tighten loose skin. These procedures can be performed separately or at the same time.
Who is a good candidate for an eyelid lift?
The ideal candidate for lower eyelid surgery has under-eye puffiness or eye bags. Puffiness is caused by fat pads in the lower eyelid, which can bulge due to hereditary factors or aging.
The lower eyelid can also show signs of aging, such as fine lines or crepey skin.
For upper eyelid surgery, the ideal candidate has a sagging or droopy eyelid (ptosis, pronounced TOE-sis), often caused by excess skin above the eye.
What is the best age to have eyelid surgery?
Most people interested in upper eyelid surgery are over 40, the age when you typically see changes as the eye skin loses elasticity and begins to droop. However, the surgery is still an option for younger people seeing eye bags or signs of aging sooner—or anyone who’s unhappy with the natural shape of their eyelids.
What happens during an eyelid surgery procedure?
For cosmetic surgery on your upper eyelids, you will receive local anesthesia, to numb the area. Markings will be made prior to surgery with you sitting up, to determine the exact amount of skin to be removed.
Once you’re numb and comfortably sedated, your surgeon will make an incision along the natural crease in your eyelid and remove any excess skin. Occasionally, a small amount of muscle and fat is removed as well.
It basically involves cutting and suturing the eyelid back together. Most of the time, we’re just removing extra skin, but sometimes we’ll also do a muscle tuck, to make the eye appear more open.
Lower eyelid surgery can be a bit more uncomfortable for a patient, so our doctor performs it under intravenous sedation or general anesthesia. With this procedure, the incision is made just below or behind the lower lash line or on the back of the eyelid.
The goal is to remove extra fat, to tone down puffiness and, in some cases, tighten sagging skin. If there’s only excess fat to remove or reposition (and no excess skin to remove), your surgeon may make incisions on the inside of the lower eyelid. This technique, called the transconjunctival approach, leaves no visible scar.
Our doctor uses a transconjunctival technique for the lower eyelids, rather than removing skin and fat pads, which can create under-eye hollows. We know that we tend to lose fat in our face as we age. Taking more out may look good immediately, but it is a bad idea in the long term.
With the transconjunctival approach, the existing fat is repositioned instead of removed, giving much better long-term results with a more conservative surgical technique that also has lower potential for complications.
Both upper and lower eyelid surgeries can be performed with a scalpel or a cutting laser, such as the CO2. When used correctly, the two tools yield similar results—it’s a matter of surgeon preference. Doctors who favor a laser say that there’s less bleeding, while others claim that the incisions take longer to heal.
The support muscles in the lower eyelids may also need to be tightened. If eyelid laxity is not addressed at the time of eyelid surgery, there is an increased risk of eyelid malposition. Our doctor often performs a midface lift and eye muscle suspension or canthopexy with supporting sutures in patients with eyelid weakness.
How long does eyelid surgery take?
Upper eyelid surgery can take 30 minutes to an hour, while a lower-lid surgery takes slightly longer, unless only a transconjunctival approach is used.
If fat transfer is also performed, this can add about 30 minutes.
How long does it take to recover from eyelid surgery?
You’ll have the most serious bruising and swelling during the first week after an eyelid lift. Our doctor suggests his patients take a full two weeks of downtime, but he says that many are back to work after just seven days. For most people, the first 7–10 days are the worst of it.
The full healing process can take several months, depending on the extent of your surgery. If minimal fat is removed, healing could be as rapid as a few days. If you’ve had more extensive muscle dissection, midface lifting, or fat repositioning performed, it could be many weeks to months until you’re looking your best.
As you heal, you’ll need to ice your eye area or apply cool compresses at least four times a day and sleep upright, propped up with extra pillows, or even in a chair to help minimize swelling. Use any prescribed eye drops or ointments and keep your eyelids clean to reduce your chance of infection.
Avoid over-the-counter pain medication like aspirin and ibuprofen, since these can potentially increase bleeding. For pain management, consult with our doctor regarding their preferred methods.
If our surgeon didn't use dissolvable sutures, you’ll have a follow-up visit after five to seven days to remove them. Once they're out, you can apply make-up over the incision line to help camouflage the incisions.
You’ll also be able to resume strenuous activities, including exercise, after one to two weeks.
If you wear contact lenses, you’ll have to keep them out for at least two weeks after surgery. Touching or pulling on the area near the incisions can increase the risk of infection and cause the incisions to reopen.
A majority of the swelling will be gone within two weeks, but it takes up to six months to see the final results of an eyelid lift. Any blepharoplasty scars in the crease of the eyelid or just under the lash line on the lower lid should fade within the year, until they’re barely visible.