Take Years off Your Face with Blepharoplasty

Drooping eyelids can make you look old and tired, but you can take years off your face with a simple surgical procedure — blepharoplasty. Here’s how it works.

Your eyes are one of the first places on your body where you can see the visible signs of aging: fine lines and wrinkles, crow’s feet, and lids that droop or sag. If you’re tired of looking in the mirror and seeing a fatigued, aloof, or angry appearance that comes with aging eyes, there’s a procedure that restores your lids to provide a more youthful appearance — it’s called blepharoplasty.

At 817 Surgical Arts, facial plastic and cosmetic surgeon Dr. Emily Johnson offers blepharoplasty to our patients in Fort Worth, Texas, who want to greet the world with eyes wide open. Here’s how the procedure can help take years off your face.

Eyelid Skin 101

Droopy eyelids is often a result of aging. When you’re young, your body produces large amounts of collagen and elastin, two proteins that provide your skin with strength, resilience, and flexibility. However, production of these proteins begins to decrease around age 25.

The loss of these structural proteins leads to fine lines and wrinkles on the face, but it’s particularly hard on the skin around your eyes because it’s very thin and shows the loss more readily. Combine this with the constant downward pull of gravity, and it’s easy to see why your upper and lower eyelids droop as you age.

Upper eyelid skin can even begin to hang over your eyelashes, potentially obstructing your vision. In the lower eyelids, aging can come in the form of excessive skin and/or fat bulging which produces the lower eye “bags” that make you look more tired than you actually are. Unfortunately,the tissue holding this fat in place also loses strength with age. This fat bulging can occur in both the upper and lower eyelids.

The benefits of blepharoplasty

According to the American Academy of Plastic Surgeons, blepharoplasty is among the top five cosmetic surgical procedures. In 2018 alone, 206,000 people chose this procedure to correct the effects of aging on their eyelids.

However, blepharoplasties aren’t always just cosmetic enhancements. If your eyelids droop so much that the skin obscures your peripheral vision, you may need the upper lids lifted to improve your sight. Dr. Johnson decides whether to perform a blepharoplasty for medical reasons based, in part, on a visual field test, which determines the amount of peripheral vision you have.

The eyelid surgery and recovery

You can choose to surgically lift either the upper or lower lids or both together. If you’re having both done, Dr. Johnson starts with the upper eyelids. She gives you a local anesthetic and some sedation so you won’t feel pain. Next, she makes a small cut in the eyelid crease so the scar won’t be visible. Then, she removes excess skin and potentially fat and/or muscle before finally sewing the incision closed.

If you’re having lower lid blepharoplasty, Dr. Johnson may make an incision along the lower lash line or on the inside of the eyelid, both of which hide the scar. Both routes also give her access to the fat contributing to the puffy lower eyelids.

Blepharoplasty is an outpatient procedure, meaning you go home the same day. You’ll need someone to drive you, as you’ll likely be groggy from the sedation.

You can expect some temporary redness, tenderness, swelling, watery eyes, bruising, double vision, or even numbness; cool packs on the treatment area help reduce swelling and pain. Most symptoms disappear after about 7-10 days.

Dr. Johnson will also suggest you use eye drops and and prescription eye ointment while healing, and she always recommends protecting your eyelids from the sun by wearing sunglasses when you’re outdoors. You should avoid strenuous exercise for at 2 weeks, don’t smoke (it inhibits healing), don’t rub your eyes, and avoid wearing contact lenses until the doctor says it’s okay. We give you detailed aftercare instructions before you leave.

If you’re tired of your eyes causing you to look older than your actual age, you can refresh your face with a blepharoplasty procedure. To learn more or schedule a consultation with Dr. Johnson, call us at 817-241-5375 or book online today.