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Eyelid surgery

Manhattan, New York City, NY

The aging process is probably the main factor in making your eyelids and eyes look less beautiful than they can be. Factors other than aging may distort your eyelids as well. Too much sun exposure, heredity, and too much or too little body fluid can cause bags and wrinkles around the eyes.

A blepharoplasty is a common cosmetic surgery procedure used to remove excess skin, herniated fat, and atrophied muscle from the upper and lower eyelids. In some cases, excess fat and skin can block a person’s field of vision. If this is the case, it should be treated as soon as possible, regardless of the fact that it shows you are aging.

Lower eyelid

The lower eyelid is particularly vulnerable to bags and wrinkles. Your wrinkles begin as tiny lines underneath your eye and crow's–feet beside your eye. As gravity continues to weigh down your skin, those fine lines become deeper, more pronounced wrinkles and lines.

There is a collection of fat above and below the eye. This fat cushions your eye in your eye socket. The orbital septum is an eyelid structure which is supposed to keep this collection of eye fat in place. As the skin loses its firmness, your orbital septum weakens. When this happens, your fat swells into your lower eyelid. Your eyelid bulge then casts a deep shadow on your face when light shines down on you from above, so your whole eye not only looks puffy or swollen, but you also look tired and unhealthy.

Upper eyelid

Your upper eyelid is vulnerable to a whole other set of problems. As you age, your skin gets an elastic quality that often results in extra fat and skin forming a drooping hood over your eyelid. The fat pad that cushions your upper eyelid may also start to protrude, causing your inner eyelid to bulge awkwardly. This results in a sagging, tired, and "older" look.

A patient should plan to take three to five days off from work to have an eyelift. Extensive post-op bruising around the eye is typical, and should be planned for. This can take anywhere from one to two weeks to clear up entirely. Despite the bruising, the discomfort tends to be relatively mild.

For more information about eyelid surgery, please visit our Questions About Blepharoplasty page.

If you live in the New York City area and think you might be a good candidate for blepharoplasty, or have more questions about other procedures, please contact us today to arrange a free blepharoplasty consultation.