What is an Upper Eyelid Blepharoplasty (Eyelift)?

Treating upper eyelid loose skin is elegantly achieved with surgery. The procedure can be done awake or with sedation in about an hour. This can be done alone, or along with surgery for the lower eyelids.

The skin is carefully marked and measured, ensuring that too much is not removed. Stitches are placed and either dissolve on their own, or are removed at one week after surgery. Return to work can be as early as the next day. Some bruising may occur, but this can be easily hidden with sunglasses and typically fades in 7-10 days. Minimal pain medications are needed during the recovery period.

Lower Eyelid Blepharoplasty and lower eyelid fat repositioning

Lower eyelid surgery can be performed at the same time as upper eyelid surgery and combining the two is recommended so there is only one recovery period. Tasteful lower eyelid surgery involved understanding the anatomy and the problem at hand.

How to correct lower eyelid bags?

Fat that is bulging from under the eye should be conservatively reduced so there is less chances of hollowing later in life. Older techniques would aim to reduce as much fat as possible.

While the immediate results were pleasant, the long-term outcomes sometimes looked hollow and cadveric. A nice technique to avoid this is “Fat-Repositioning”. Fat that is bulging from the lower lid is loosened and moved to the tear trough area of the cheek where typically there has been a loss of volume. By keeping the fat attached to its natural blood supply, it reliably survives and does not reabsorb. The bonus is that it corrects some hollowing in the center of the cheek. The fat is approached from inside the eyelid, so it is possible for there to be no external incisions.

How do correct loose lower eyelid skin?

Skin of the lower eyelid needs to be addressed much more conservatively than the upper eyelid. Due to gravity and often lack of support of the lower lid itself, less skin can be removed when compared to an upper lid blepharoplasty.

Excess skin can be pinched and removed safely, sometimes with addition support procedures being recommended. Sometimes patients are best served with laser treatments or chemical peels to thicken the skin in an even more conservative fashion.

What Non-invasive Upper Eyelid Treatments are available?

Chemical brow lifts in mild patients can elevate the eyebrows slightly, allowing for eyes to appear more open. Essentially, the muscles that normally pull the eyebrow down are weakened with botox or other neuromodulators. Again, correct placement of these injections by an expert is key for a good result. Incorrect, or over injection, can make the brows feel heavy.

In the right patients, adding some fillers to the lower brow region can restore some volume to the upper eyelid and make the thin skin look less deflated and wrinkled. The eye-socket can also look less hollow with such a maneuver.

What Non-Invasive Lower Eyelid Treatments are available?

The main complaints regarding the lower eyelids are: Puffiness, Bulging, Dark Circles, and Hollowness. These complaints can sometimes happen simultaneously, complicating the matter. In general, surgery is a great option for treating bulging fat from the lower eyelids. The other complaints can be treated medically and non-invasively to a limited extent.