A blepharoplasty is an operation to remove excess skin and fat from your eyelids and to tighten your skin and soft tissues around your eyes.
During blepharoplasty, the surgeon cuts into the creases of the eyelids to trim sagging skin and muscle and remove excess fat. The surgeon rejoins the skin with tiny dissolving stitches. Blepharoplasty (BLEF-uh-roe-plas-tee) is a type of surgery that removes excess skin from the eyelids.
Superior to the level of the tarsus, the upper eyelid consists of several individual layers from anterior to posterior: skin, orbicularis muscle, orbital septum, preaponeurotic or orbital fat, eyelid retractors (levator palpebrae superioris and Müller muscle), and conjunctiva.
Use a Scar-Reducing Cream or Ointment
Recent studies have shown the effectiveness of silicone-based creams in making scars less noticeable when used in the first few weeks after the wound has healed. Your doctor may also use silicone dressings on the incision as it is healing.
A blepharoplasty is a surgical rejuvenating procedure that may be performed on the upper and/or lower eyelids. An upper blepharoplasty may include excision of drooping eyelid skin, repair of the muscle that opens the eyes, and removal of excess fat.
Once the puffiness under the eyes is reduced, it often never returns. It is important to remember, however, that every patient is different. Should someone develop recurrent puffiness under the eyes after several years, a revision blepharoplasty can help to restore their original results.
Cons of Blepharoplasty
Blepharoplasty can come with a few potential drawbacks, including that: You may experience side effects: Swelling and bruising are normal and to be expected after surgery. You may also experience dry eye or irritation. These side effects are typically mild and temporary.
Normal healing process: In some cases, lumps and bumps are a normal part of the healing process after surgery. They may resolve on their own over time as the tissues heal and swelling subsides. Sutures: Lumps may form around sutures used in the surgery. These usually resolve as the sutures dissolve or are removed.
Some patients also notice tiny little white bumps along the incision line. Those are common and normal. The easiest and best thing to do with them is gently rub them with your finger while you are in the shower. That will entice them to go away.
Just for a quick recap, milia are those little white bumps that often emerge on soft facial skin when oil glands become blocked. In the case of blepharoplasty, milia result because of hyperactive sebaceous (oil) glands after skin “trauma” (surgery).
Your eyelids will probably look puffy after surgery. The incisions will probably look red, too. The swelling and bruising involved with blepharoplasty recovery tend to resemble a black eye. That is all normal.
Here are a few tips that will help you recover faster from a blepharoplasty: Use an ice pack to reduce swelling and discomfort. Take all the medications prescribed by your doctor on time. Use eye drops regularly.
Slight Changes May Occur. For patients with hooded eyelids, a blepharoplasty can create a smoother surface area on their eyelids, which can slightly change the appearance of the eyes and make them appear less sunken.
About Blepharoplasty
A blepharoplasty addresses the excess tissues that contributes to hollow eyes. An eyelid lift procedure removes the excess skin and fat from around the eyes to give them a more youthful and “awake” appearance.
Orbital fat is the tissue inside the orbit in which other orbital structures, such as the eyeball, optic nerve, and eye muscles, are embedded. It consists of a mesh of small compartments that each contain a large number of fat cells.
Xanthelasma, or xanthelasma palpebrarum (XP), is a harmless, yellow growth that appears on or by the corners of your eyelids next to your nose. Cholesterol deposits build up under your skin to form a xanthelasma. Having xanthelasmas could be a sign of another condition, such as: Diabetes.
Swelling in the upper lid may result in incomplete eyelid closure or may cause the eyelid to appear droopy (known as ptosis). As with the lower eyelid, usually this will clear up on its own. However, if after 6 months the problems persist, corrective surgery can be used to reposition the lid and improve symmetry.
Short-term changes in the shape of the eye can occur. The position of the eyelid can temporarily change due to the bruising and swelling associated with eyelid surgery. For the majority of patients, this issue usually resolves itself within approximately 6 weeks.
Rounding of the Corners or Change in the Shape of Your Eyes
If you are concerned that your eyes may have changed shape after your initial blepharoplasty, you may be a candidate for revision eyelid surgery. Sometimes, this change in the shape of your eyes after surgery can be due to the positioning of the lower eyelids.
Lower eyelids that become pulled down after cosmetic lower blepharoplasty is called lower eyelid retraction. More specifically, it is referred to as post-blepharoplasty lower eyelid retraction. This is a devastating complication emotionally, psychologically, and functionally (as it can lead to true eye problems).
A skin pinch is a cosmetic procedure that can help smooth away excess skin while preserving the delicacy of the under-eye area. Skin pinch is often performed under local anesthesia to ensure each patient is completely comfortable during their procedure. The process typically takes around 45 minutes to perform.
He typically recommends massaging the incisions 10-14 days after surgery and continuing them until the scars have softened. In addition to the massaging exercises some patients benefit from steroid taping or steroid injections into the scar tissue.
Crepey skin is normal if you have not combined s skin resurfacing procedure with your Blepharoplasty surgery. When excess fat is removed from the lower lids and excess skin is removed from the upper lids- you have merely addressed skin and fat- not skin tone, texture and quality.
After blepharoplasty that involved the reduction of bulging fat pouches, there is a residual bulge. This most often ocurrs at the outer corner of the lower eyelid, at the location of the lateral fat pad. This can create a contour irregularity or a mismatch with the other regions of the eyelid.
Blepharoplasty won't stop your eyes from aging. But the results usually last a long time. Upper eyelid surgery can last anywhere from five to seven years to an entire lifetime, while lower eyelid surgery rarely needs to be done more than once.