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Eyelid Surgery
or Blepharoplasty
in Bethesda Maryland - Washington DC Metro Area
Eyelid surgery (technically called blepharoplasty) is a procedure to remove fat--usually along with excess skin--from the upper and lower eyelids. Blepharoplasty can be done alone or in conjunction with other facial surgery procedures such as a facelift or browlift.
How blepharoplasty can help you
If you have drooping upper lids or puffy bags below your eyes, blepharoplasty may be for you. These features can make you look older and more tired than you feel, and may even interfere with your vision. Most patients are 35 or older, but if droopy, baggy eyelids run in your family, you may decide to have eyelid surgery at a younger age. However, eyelid surgery doesn'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.
Your surgical consultation
Your surgeon will evaluate your general health and examine the skin tone around your eyes. A few medical conditions make blepharoplasty more risky. They include thyroid problems such as hypothyroidism and Graves' disease, dry eye or lack of sufficient tears, high blood pressure or other circulatory disorders, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. In this consultation, your vision will be tested and tear production assessed. You should also provide any relevant information from your ophthalmologist or the record of your most recent eye exam. A detached retina or glaucoma is also reason for caution; check with your ophthalmologist before you have surgery. If you wear glasses or contact lenses, be sure to bring them along.
The surgery
Eyelid surgery may be performed in a surgeon's office-based facility, an outpatient surgery center, or a hospital. It's usually done on an outpatient basis; rarely does it require an inpatient stay.
Eyelid surgery is usually performed under local anesthesia--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.
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 underlying fatty tissue and muscle, removes excess fat, and often trims sagging skin. 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.
If you are interested in scheduling a complimentary consultation for Eyelid Surgery or Blepharoplasty, please use our online plastic surgery information form to make an appiontment.