Table of Contents
“A girl’s true beauty lies in her eyes”. True indeed! Moreover, we women never leaves an opportunity to enhance those pretty peepers. But what if your eyelids seem to be drooping and make you look way too older than your actual age? Well, ‘blepharoplasty’ can be your answer. Want to know more about it? Let’s find out together.
What Is Blepharoplasty?
‘Blepharoplasty’ is the medical term used for the ‘eyelid lift surgery’. It is basically a cosmetic procedure that changes the appearance of the eyes by correcting the skin and/or eliminating the fat deposits around the entire eye area. In other words, if you have extra skin around your eyes, blepharoplasty can give you a completely new look by nipping and tucking it while getting rid of the excess fat.
Types Of Blepharoplasty
Blepharoplasty can be done on both upper eyelids and lower eyelids. An upper eyelid blepharoplasty removes extra folds of skin with excess fat and/or muscle drooping over the eyes to make you look younger and more awake. On the other hand, the lower eyelid blepharoplasty eliminates additional fat deposits along with skin and muscle from beneath the eyes in order to make the saggy skin appear taut and reduce undereye dark circles. When the lower eyelid surgery is done through the ‘inferior fornix’ (incisions made inside the lower lash lines) to keep the scar hidden, it is termed as the ‘transconjunctival blepharoplasty’. There are even some medical blepharoplasty surgeries, which are intended to enhance the eyesight of individuals.
What Does Blepharoplasty Address?
The surgery of Blepharoplasty can address a number of eyelid issues and following are the most common ones among them:
- Loose, saggy skin creating folds on upper eyelids
- Extra fat deposits beneath lower eyelids
- Fine wrinkles and extra skin on lower eyelids
- Lower eyelid puffiness, bagginess, and droopiness
Ideal Candidates For Blepharoplasty
A potential candidate for blepharoplasty is identified with the following qualities:
- Having a good overall health and fitness
- Age should be 35 years and above
- Should be a non-smoker
- Having realistic expectations for surgery
Points To Consider Before Blepharoplasty
If you are planning to create a more harmonious look by treating your eyelids with blepharoplasty, here are a few points you must consider beforehand:
- There will be two separate surgeries for upper and lower eyelids
- A thorough physical health examination (including eyes) will be conducted in advance
- Allergy or reaction to certain medications will be checked by the surgeon
- Full medical history will be checked to know about previous surgeries and existing medical conditions (glaucoma, detached retina, wet eye, dry eye, thyroid disorders, hypertension, diabetes, and so on)
How Is Blepharoplasty Carried Out?
If you need to undergo both upper and lower eyelid surgeries, your surgeon will start with the upper lids and proceed to the lower ones gradually. Here are the steps involved in the entire procedure:
- The surgery is carried out under local anesthesia or general anesthesia. Sometimes, even a combination of local anesthesia and sedation (IV or oral) is also used.
- The areas are marked over the eyelids to determine exactly which parts of the skin to be worked on.
- For the upper eyelid surgery, an incision is made on the skin of the upper eyelid while an incision is made inside or just below the lash line to treat the lower eyelids.
- The excess skin is removed as well as the excess fat and/or muscle is removed or redistributed as per the requirements. The underlying tissues are also tightened if needed.
- Finally, the incision is closed with the help of skin adhesives, or surgical types, or removable/absorbable sutures.
There is a non-surgical version of blepharoplasty, which promises a more younger-looking eye area without a lot less pain. It is mostly applicable to the skin surrounding the eyes that has developed wrinkles due to the loss of fat cells. The range of injectable fillers called ‘Restylane’ is used to make the skin look tighter and youthful.
Also Read – Hooded Eyes? Not Any More. Try These Genius Makeup Tricks Today! Here
Duration And Longevity
A blepharoplasty surgery (either upper eyelid or lower eyelid) takes anywhere between 1 hour and 3 hours to complete. The duration usually depends on the extent of the repair and the technique being followed. Also, you can expect the results of a blepharoplasty surgery to last from 10-20 years as it does not need to be undertaken very often. Hence, it is essential that you get the procedure done by a reputed surgeon and follow the aftercare rules to manage risks successfully.
Side Effects Of Blepharoplasty
Swelling and bruising are two most common side effects of blepharoplasty and they develop in substantial amounts around the eye areas. Typically, both of these symptoms subside in 5-8 days if you undergo only the skin removal from your eyelids. However, swelling and bruising may take up to 2 weeks to be minimized in case you go through fat and muscle removal or repositioning along with the skin.
Some other known side effects of blepharoplasty include redness, blurred vision, double vision, dryness in eyes, too watery eyes, sensitivity to light, tightness in eyelids, etc. All of these are normal and temporary, which are generally resulted from the medications being used and will disappear gradually in a week or so. Otherwise, get in touch with your surgeon immediately.
Also Read – Can Fake Eyelashes Cause Eye Infection? Here
Recovery And Aftercare
Though the recovery experiences differ from patients to patients, it is crucial that you follow the aftercare rules religiously. Thus, you can expect smooth, rejuvenated, and better defined eyelids in around a year. Here are the recovery guidelines to follow:
- Take rest for 2 weeks with your head raised during sleeping
- Apply cold compress, eye drops, lubricating ointment, etc. as prescribed
- Do not wear contact lenses (rather wear dark sunglasses) for at least 2 weeks
- Reduce blinking and eye-drying activities (reading, using computers, watching TV, etc.)
- Skip exercises along with other activities, such as crying, lifting, bending, etc.
- Steer clear of drinking alcohol for a couple of weeks
Risks And Complications
The most common risks an complications associated with the procedure of blepharoplasty are:
- Infections
- Dry or watery eyes
- Bleeding behind the eyes
- Anesthesia-related complications
- Blood clots
- Inflamed and itchy scars
- Temporary loss of vision
- Fluid accumulation
- Temporary lid lag (pulling down of lower eyelids)
- Ectropion (rolling of eyelids outwards)
- Deep vein thrombosis
- Pulmonary and cardiac complications
- Difficulty closing eyes
Cost Of Blepharoplasty
The average cost of blepharoplasty ranges from $4,000 to $5,000, which includes both upper eyelid and lower eyelid surgeries.
