Eyelid Surgery

What is eyelid surgery?

Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, is plastic surgery that removes excess skin, fat, or muscle from the upper and lower eyelids. In most cases, patients choose to have both their upper and lower eyelids done.

What can eyelid surgery do?

Eyelid surgery can:

• Correct drooping upper eyelids
• Get rid of puffy bags below your eyes
• Decrease the groove between your lower eyelid and your nose (the “tear trough” deformity)

Eyelid surgery can also add an eyelid crease to Asian eyes—but it can’t erase evidence of racial or ethnic heritage.

What can’t eyelid surgery do?

Eyelid surgery cannot:

• Get rid of crow’s feet or other wrinkles
• Eliminate dark circles under your eyes
• Lift sagging eyebrows.

If your eyebrows are sagging, a brow lift is probably a more appropriate option for you.

What do you advise patients about eyelid surgery?

Eyelid surgery is the best bang for your buck when it comes to facial surgery. It’s the most overlooked facial plastic surgery procedure but has the highest yield. People notice your eyes, whether consciously or not. Patients who have eyelid surgery do very well.”

If a patient needed a facelift and eyelid surgery and could afford to do only one, I’d advise him or her to do the eyelids. It’s less downtime, it really makes a nice difference and the cost is much less.

Eyelid surgery is the best bang for your buck when it comes to facial surgery. It’s the most overlooked facial plastic surgery but has the highest yield.

Is eyelid surgery usually done by itself?

No. Many times, I perform eyelid surgery in conjunction with a brow lift and/or a facelift. It’s important to understand that while a facelift is very effective in rejuvenating the lower 2/3 of the face, eyelid surgery can have a dramatic effect on making your eyes look younger.

How is an upper eyelid lift performed?

I make an incision from the natural crease of the inside corner of the eye to slightly beyond the outside corner. Then I remove excess skin and fatty tissue from the upper eyelid. Because the incision line follows the natural contour of your upper eyelid, it is barely noticeable when it heals.

How is a lower eyelid lift performed?

I like to do a more invasive procedure because I think that it produces more natural results. The latest technique is called a septal reset. It really helps to blend in the junction between the cheek and the lower eyelid. The incision is made just under the lash line.

“One of the telltale signs of aging is that the distance from the lower eyelashes to the cheeks increases—the cheeks seem to descend. When I combine a facelift with a lower eyelid lift, I blend that line, making it a little unclear as to where the lower eyelid stops and the cheek starts.

“I also try to pull some of the fat over from the lower eyelid—where you might get a bag under your eye. Instead of removing that fat, I like to pull it over the top of the orbital rim—the bone there—which helps to hide what’s called the tear trough.

Where is eyelid surgery performed?

I perform eyelid surgery on an outpatient basis at Mount Sinai Hospital, or at one of the local surgery centers.

How long does eyelid surgery take?

Upper eyelids are pretty straightforward; they don’t take very long. Both sides, skin to skin, are probably done in 30 minutes. Lower-eyelid surgery takes 45-90 minutes, depending on the technique I use.

What kind of anesthesia is used for eyelid surgery?

Eyelid surgery is well-tolerated under local anesthesia. Or you may choose to have the procedure done under sedation. If you are having an eyelid lift performed in conjunction with a facelift, you may wish to have the procedure done under general anesthesia, where you will be asleep for the entire operation.

How long does recovery from eyelid surgery take?

Recovery takes about a week for the upper eyelids and 10 days for the lower ones. The upper lids heal more quickly because there’s not that much to them. With the lower eyelids, it’s a bit more obvious, but within a couple of weeks, it’s hard to know that someone’s had an operation. You can see something is different, but if patients are wearing some cover-up makeup, they typically do very well.

What results can you expect from eyelid surgery?

You can expect to have a more youthful, alert, and refreshed appearance. People may ask you if you’ve been on vacation—they’ll notice something different, but won’t realize you’ve had eye surgery. Best of all, eyelid surgery produces long-lasting results.