Eyelid Lift (Blepharoplasty)
Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, reduces bagginess below the eyes and removes excess upper-lid skin for a more rested look, and it can help when drooping lids interfere with your vision.
What Is an Eyelid Lift?
An eyelid lift improves the appearance of the eyelids by reducing bagginess from the lower lids and removing excess skin from the upper lids. Surgery can be performed on the upper lids, the lower lids, or both. An eyelid lift can be cosmetic or reconstructive, depending on the degree of visual impairment as measured by an ophthalmologist.
The eye area is delicate. With age, the skin around the eyes thins and loses elasticity, and the muscles that support the eyelids can weaken, leading to drooping lids and bags under the eyes. A brow lift can also be performed to reduce wrinkles, improve frown lines, and return the brows to a youthful position.
Eyelid surgery can rejuvenate the appearance of your eyes for a more youthful, rested look. Results can be long lasting, though they may not be permanent.
Upper, Lower, or Both
Surgery can address the upper lids, the lower lids, or both at the same time.
Rested Appearance
Designed to rejuvenate the eyes for a more youthful, refreshed look that can last for years.
Clearer Vision
When loose upper-lid skin blocks part of your visual field, surgery can help at any age.
Are You a Candidate?
Most people who undergo eyelid surgery are 35 or older, but if drooping eyelids are affecting your vision, the surgery is appropriate at any age. During your consultation, your surgeon will examine your eyes and facial structure. You may be a good candidate if you have:
- Excess skin obscuring the natural fold of the upper eyelids
- Loose skin hanging from the upper lids, sometimes causing vision problems
- Excess fatty deposits creating puffiness in the upper eyelids
- Bags under the eyes
- Drooping lower eyelids that reveal white below the iris
- Fine wrinkles or creases in the lower eyelids
When Eyelids Affect Your Vision
Aging naturally changes the skin of the forehead and eyelids, and usually those changes cause no symptoms. When symptoms do occur, excess skin and laxity can lead to fatigue, visual field deficits, excessive tearing (epiphora), and dryness.
Testing to confirm the diagnosis includes visual field testing, performed with and without taping of the brows and eyelids. The right correction depends on the physical cause.
Surgical Approaches
Your surgeon matches the procedure to what is actually causing the problem.
Brow Ptosis
When forehead tissues migrate downward, they hood the tissues above the eye, especially along the outer brow. Lifting the brow back to its previous position corrects the problem, through either an open brow lift or an endoscopic lift, depending on the patient.
Dermatochalasis
Loss of skin elasticity, excess skin, and loss of adhesion to underlying structures cause hooding of the upper lid, which can block part of the visual field, and bags under the lower lid that can pull it downward.
Surgery removes the excess tissue from the lids, taking care not to remove so much skin that closing the eye becomes difficult or the lower lid retracts.
Blepharoptosis
In this condition, the margin of the upper eyelid itself sits abnormally low, most often from weakness or stretching of the levator muscle or its attachments. Surgically tightening or advancing the levator muscle can correct the problem.
Lower Eyelid Laxity
A lax lower lid can show as ectropion, visible white below the iris, tearing, and occasional dry eye symptoms. Tightening the lid with a canthopexy, canthoplasty, or another procedure helps re-establish its correct position.
Recovery From Eyelid Lift Surgery
Most patients experience only minimal discomfort and swelling after surgery.
Discomfort and swelling usually resolve within a week or two.
Incisions may take several weeks, or even months, to heal completely.
“The surgery effectively removed the folds of my eyelids which had impaired my vision. Northland Plastic Surgery is an immaculate facility with an efficient and friendly staff. I would recommend NPS to others.”
Richard · Eyelid Surgery Patient
Richard came to us struggling with obstruction of his upper visual fields. We traced his symptoms to excess upper eyelid skin, and visual field testing with his ophthalmologist documented the cause. His insurance approved reconstructive surgery, and he underwent upper lid blepharoplasty on both eyes. After a short recovery, Richard saw a dramatic improvement in his vision, along with a natural, age appropriate, more rested appearance.