Your Most Important Facial Feature
Your eyes, the central feature of your face, are what most people notice first. It’s common for friends and relatives to comment that you look “tired” or “aged” based on the appearance of your eyes, especially when dark circles, excess eyelid skin, or bags are present.
Various factors, including genetics, environmental influences, and medical conditions, can affect your eyes. Over time, the skin may develop creases, eyelid muscles may weaken, and excess skin and fat can accumulate, leading to a tired appearance.
Blepharoplasty offers a transformative solution for those looking to refresh their appearance by addressing excess skin, fat, and other age-related changes in the eyelids. With careful planning and expert execution, surgery results from this procedure can restore a more youthful and rested look to your most important facial feature: your eyes.
These images are not intended to indicate or reflect likely results or outcomes for any other patient other than those displayed here. Every patient will have before and after results consistent with their individual and unique anatomy and physique.Therefore patients should not make decisions to have Cosmetic Surgery based solely on before and after images.
Improving Your Look with Blepharoplasty
Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, can significantly improve these issues by removing excess skin and fat from the upper and lower eyelids. However, it’s important to note that while lower eyelid blepharoplasty can enhance your appearance, it may not completely eliminate all eyelid creases, as doing so could result in an unnatural look.
In the past, upper eyelid surgery often involved the removal of excess fat, but today, a more conservative approach is preferred to remove excess skin avoid a hollowed look. Lower eyelid surgery has evolved as well, with a greater emphasis on repositioning rather than just removing fat to achieve a more youthful contour and reduce the appearance of dark circles.
Eyelid Lifts: Upper and Lower Eyelid Surgery
Blepharoplasty can address both the upper lids and lower eyelids. The goal of cosmetic eyelid surgery is to correct saggy or redundant eyelids, define the eyelid crease, and tighten tissues. This procedure can also address structural abnormalities due to ageing or sun damage.
The surgery targets the skin, muscle, and fat of the eyelids, and the approach may vary based on the patient’s individual needs and ethnic background.
Consultation and Procedure Overview
During your consultation, Dr. Bobby A. Kumar will review your medical history, any previous eyelid surgeries, and discuss how conditions like thyroid or kidney disease can affect your eyelids. It’s crucial to express your concerns and desired outcomes during this time.
Upper eyelid blepharoplasty involves an incision in the natural crease above the eyelashes, through which excess skin and possibly some fat are removed. Lower blepharoplasty, often performed via a transconjunctival approach, addresses excess fat and skin below the eyelash line. Techniques like laser skin resurfacing may be recommended to enhance skin quality further.
Performed under anaesthesia in a day surgery unit, blepharoplasty aims for minimal scarring and natural-looking rejuvenation. While complications from plastic surgery are rare, they can include eye dryness and sensitivity, which are manageable with appropriate care.
Brief Description of the Blepharoplasty Procedure
The Upper eyelid surgery involves an Incision in the natural crease line approximately one centimetre above the eyelashes and extending into the “crow’s feet” area of the excess upper eyelid skin. Excess skin is removed and some fat from the fat pads may be excised and removed. The incisions are sutured with a single suture, which will need to be removed at 5-7 days.
For the lower eyelids, removal removes excess skin becauseof fat pads is via an internal eyelid approach called the Transconjunctival Blepharoplasty. Excess skin is removed by an incision that is made just below the eyelash line and extending out to the “crow’s feet”.
The excess skin is trimmed and the skin is redraped and sutured with a single suture with minimal tension. The resultant rejuvenation of loose skin on the lower eyelid and a mild lifting of the upper cheek will dramatically improve your tired aged appearance. Occasionally adjunctive therapies may be required to improve the quality of the skin such as a chemical peel or laser resurfacing.
Blepharoplasty surgery is performed under anaesthesia with an anaesthetist in an accredited day surgery unit.
Scarring will occur with any surgical procedure, however, every endeavour is made experienced plastic surgeonto minimise scarring and generally blepharoplasty scars heal exceedingly well and they are hidden.
Complications of eyelid surgery are tearing of the eyes, redness and scratchy sensation to the cornea. These symptoms can be improved with appropriate eye drops and symptom relief medications. The most feared complication is bleeding and worsening pain which should be brought to the attention of the Cosmetic Surgeon for immediate treatment.
Patients should expect normal function of the eyelids with enough loose eyelid skin to close the lids normally. If there is any underlying visual impairment, loss or deficit prior to surgery this should be discussed with the surgeon prior to any surgery and potentially an opinion from an ophthalmologist will be required.
Some patients expecting to have a blepharoplasty will instead require a Brow lift as well as a blepharoplasty.
Often the Upper eyelids can appear to be “heavy” or “sagging”, at the time of consultation this instead is demonstrated to be a heavy brow causing descent of the upper eyelids and prominent furrows of the forehead. Typically many of these patients will have had anti-wrinkle injections to help with the “sad eyelids” and the forehead creases.
Brow lift surgery is performed by endoscopic techniques, direct surgical excision fat removal of the brow tissue or threads. The choice of surgical approach is determined at the time of consultation.