Why Have An Eye Lift?

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The eyes are the window to the soul, and lively expressive eyes tie the whole face together, as well as conveying a magic all their own. Unfortunately, the skin around the eyes is the thinnest on the body and the first place where visible aging occurs. Eyelid surgery covers a wide variety of procedures designed to address this, whether it's puffy eyes or heavy brows. The whole class of surgeries are among the safest and most effective in plastic surgery. 

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Procedure Details

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Cosmetic eyelid surgery or blepharoplasty is an operation to remove excess skin, fat and muscle from around the eyes to correct droopy eyelids and bagginess under the eyes.

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It can be performed on the upper lids and lower lids, at the same time or separately. Sometimes it is done to improve vision problems. In other cases it is performed as a cosmetic operation, to improve the appearance of the eyes.

As well as correcting droopy, baggy eyelids by removing excess skin, fat and muscle, blepharoplasty will remove wrinkles, but only those that are physically cut away. It will not remove "crow's feet" and can't change the color of dark shadows under the eyes.

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The operation may be done using either conventional or laser techniques. For surgery on the upper eyelids, cuts are made into the natural lines and creases in the lid, and into the laughter lines at the corner of the eye.For surgery on the lower eyelids, a cut is usually made just below the eyelashes. This means the scars run along the eye's natural folds, concealing them as much as possible. Excess fat, muscle and loose skin are removed, and the cut is closed using fine stitches. If only fat is being removed, sometimes the cut is made on the inside of the lower eyelid, leaving no visible scar.

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Preparation & Recovery​

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Each patient will be given specific and tailored instructions regarding preparation for surgery.

Those who smoke run a greater risk of chest infection and the healing wounds in smokers may be slower. For patients who smoke it is advisable to cut down for a week before surgery and to stop smoking completely for three days immediately before the operation. Assumption of Aspirin or blood thinning medication should be avoided before the procedure as it can reduce natural blood clotting after.

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Blepharoplasty is most often performed as a day case, with no need for an overnight stay in hospital. The operation lasts one to two hours, less if just the upper or lower lids are being done. Blepharoplasty can be carried out under local anesthesia, in which case the area around the eyes will be numb but the person will be awake. In other cases, general anesthesia may be used.

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After the operation, the eyes may be covered with pads. Sterile paper tape will be used to support the operation sites and an ointment may be applied to prevent the eye area from drying out.