Medically reviewed by Dr. John Rosdeutscher – Written by Sine Thieme
Eyelid surgery is one of the most effective cosmetic procedures to rejuvenate your face with lasting effect. Nowhere does your age show as much as it does around your eyes. And conversely, nowhere can you achieve a transformation quite as stunning as with eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty).
Our plastic surgeons at NuBody Concepts Nashville and NuBody Concepts Memphis have over 25 years of experience performing blepharoplasties on upper and lower eyelids, using both surgical and minimally-invasive skin tightening methods.
Which Type of Eyelid Surgery Should I Get?
Depending on which areas around your eyes you find most bothersome, you can get either an upper blephoraplasty, a lower blephoraplasty, or a combination of both. For sagging and dropping lids, upper eyelid surgery is advised, whereas baggy eyes typically show up underneath the eyes – a good indication for lower eyelid surgery. Many patients also improve their results by adding on a brow lift.
Upper Eyelid Surgery
Drooping upper eyelids are a very common occurrence for aging men and women. While in rare cases the sagging skin can become so extreme as to impede your vision, most often this is mostly an aesthetic problem.
During an upper blepharoplasty, your plastic surgeon will incise along the natural eyelid crease. Through this incision, he or she will begin to remove any excess skin, muscle, and fat to correct the drooping upper eyelid. Some surgeons use lasers to help remove the tissues in order to reduce swelling and bruising. After the surgery, the upper eyelids will have a tighter appearance and the eye will have a more rounded shape.
The beauty of this procedure is the fact that the scar is almost perfectly hidden by the natural crease of the eyelid. The surgeon will try to place the incision exactly into the crease so that the resulting scar will line up perfectly, making it virtually impossible to detect.
Lower Eyelid Surgery
Lower eyelid surgeries can be performed in several different ways.
During a traditional lower blepharoplasty, your surgeon will incise just below the eyelashes. Again, this is a natural line where the resulting scar is very well disguised. Once complete, the surgeon may trim or reposition any skin or fat in the location and tighten the lower eyelid muscles. This helps smoothen and tighten baggy skin beneath the eyes.
Another technique may include a transconjunctival approach. This eyelid surgery is performed in order to improve lower eyelid bags and puffiness. This procedure has its limits though, as it can only be used to remove excess fat but does not remove excess skin in the lower eyelid.A “skin pinch” blepharoplasty removes the least amount of skin. This procedure is effective if you happen to have strong lower eyelid support and only a little extra skin.
Radio frequency assisted lipolysis (RFAL) such as Renuvion or FaceTite can also be an effective method to help tighten the excess skin and remove any unwanted wrinkles.
Double Eyelid Surgery
This is self-explanatory: Patients who would like to have the full rejuvenating effect of eyelid surgery may prefer to have both upper and lower blepharoplasties performed in a single procedure. Not all patients have both droopy upper lids and baggy skin underneath their eyes and may not need both procedures, but if you do, it makes sense to combine both so as to avoid the extra anesthesia and recovery.
Combining Eyelid Surgery With Brow Lift
While eyelid surgery is a great way to rejuvenate the eyes, it often is not quite enough to get the lift needed to reestablish the upper lids. As we age, our brows often begin to sag as well, pushing down onto the eyelids so much that no amount of skin removed will tighten up the upper lid enough to give the eye an aesthetically pleasing look.
Enter the brow lift. When a plastic surgeon performs a brow lift, he or she makes an incision along the hairline to remove excess skin from the forehead. This essentially pulls the forehead and brows higher up, removing wrinkles and tightening the skin. This has the effect of also giving the upper eyelids a nicer arch and cleaner look.
When age-related skin laxity is the culprit of sagging eyelids, eyelid surgery combined with a simultaneous brow lift is often the best recommendation for patients who want to see the best possible results. It is one of the procedures patients most often rate as “worth it” and “I should have had it sooner.”
We hope we have helped you decide which type of eyelid surgery might be best for you. If you’d like to discuss your goals with a plastic surgeon, please contact us or click the pink button to schedule a consultation.
