Eyelid surgery (technically called blepharoplasty) is a procedure to remove fat—usually along with excess skin and muscle from the upper and lower eyelids. Eyelids surgery can correct drooping upper lids and puffy bags below your eyes-features that make your look older and more tired than you feel, and may even interfere with your vision.However, it won’t remove crow’s feet or other wrinkles, eliminate dark circles under your eyes, or lift sagging eyebrows. While it can add an upper eyelid crease to Asian eyes, it will not erase evidence of your ethnic or racial heritage.Blepharoplasty can be done alone, or in conjunction with other facial surgery procedures such as a facelift or browlift.If you’re considering eyelid surgery, this information will give you a basic understanding of the procedure-when it can help, how it’s performed, and what result you can expect. It can’t answer all of your questions, since a lot depends on the individual patient and surgeon. Please ask your surgeon about anything you don’t understand. The best candidates for eyelid surgery are men and women who are physically healthy, psychologically stable, and realistic in their expectations. Most are 35 or older, but if droopy, baggy eyelids run in your family, you may decide to have eyelid surgery at a younger age. When eyelid surgery is performed by a qualified plastic surgeon, complications are infrequent and usually minor.Nevertheless, there is always a possibility of complications, including infection or a reaction to the anesthesia. You can reduce your risks by closely following your surgeon’s instructions both before and after surgery. The minor complications that occasionally follow blepharoplasty include double or blurred vision for a few days; temporary swelling at the corner of the eyelids; and a slight asymmetry in healing or scarring. Tiny white-heads may appear after your stitches are taken out; your surgeon can remove them easily with a very fine needle. Following surgery, some patients may have difficulty closing their eyes when sleep .Another very rare complication is ectropion, a pulling down of the lower lids. In this case, further surgery may be required.
PREPARING FOR YOUR SURGERY Your surgeon will give you specific instructions on how to prepare for surgery, including guidelines on eating and drinking, smoking and taking or avoiding certain vitamins and medications. Carefully following these instructions will help your surgery go more smoothly.While you’re making preparations, be sure to arrange for someone to drive you home after your surgery, and to help you out for a few days if needed. TYPES OF ANESTHESIA Eyelid surgery is usually performed under local anaesthesia—which numbs the area around your eyes—along with oral or intravenous sedatives. You’ll be awake during the surgery, but relaxed and insensitive to pain. (However, you may feel some tugging or occasional discomfort.)Some surgeons prefer to use general anesthesia; in that case, you’ll sleep through the operation. THE SURGERY Blepharoplasty usually takes one to three hours; depending on the extent of the surgery. If you’re having all four eyelids done, the surgeon will probably work on the upper lids first, then the lower ones. In a typical procedure, the surgeon makes incisions following the natural lines of your eyelids; in the creases of your upper lids, and just below the lashes in the lower lids. The incisions may extend into the crow’s feet or laugh lines at the outer corners of your eyes. Working through these incisions, the surgeon separates the skin from underling fatty tissue and muscale, removes excess fat, and often trims sagging skin and muscle. The incisions are then closed with very fine sutures.If you have a pocket of fat beneath your lower eyelids but don’t need to have any skin removed, your surgeon may perform a transconjunctival blepharoplasty.In this procedure the incision is made inside your lower eyelid, leaving no visible scar. It is usually performed on younger patients with thicker, more elastic skin. AFTER YOUR SURGERY After surgery, the surgeon will probably lubricate your eyes with ointment and may apply a bandage. Your eyelids may feel tight and sore as the anaesthesia wears off, but you can control any discomfort with the pain medication prescribed by your surgeon. Your surgeon will follow your progress very closely for the first week or two .The stitches will be removed two days to a week after surgery. Once they’re out, the swelling and discoloration around your eyes will gradually subside, and you’ll start to look and feel much better. Healing is a gradual process, and your scars may remain slightly pink for six months or more after surgery. Eventually, though, they’ll fade to a thin, nearly invisible white line. On the other hand, the positive results of your eyelid surgery the more alert and youthful look will last for years. For many people, these results are permanent. |
blepharoplasty
