Blepharoplasty
Upper Blepharoplasty
Some call this an eyelid lift, but it really is intended to remove excess skin, muscle and fat from the upper eyelid. If there is ptosis, or droop of the lid line such that the pupil is hidden, or partially hidden, then this would require a different surgery.
The procedure is performed with local anesthesia and protection of the eye with the surgery performed skillfully using the carbon dioxide laser. This provides rapid, precise and bloodless surgery. The incision is closed using special skin glue called Indermil thus avoiding sutures. Frequently, this surgery is combined with laser resurfacing under the eyes, full face laser resurfacing or mini-face lift. For upper eyelid surgery, the approximate surgery time is usually less than ten minutes per side.
Lower Bleptharoplasty
This is the procedure for removal of the bags under the eyes. More and more we are doing less of this procedure. Upon reviewing the results over many years, it appears that removing the fat from the under eye area causes a sunken aged appearance over time. Sometimes there is just too much fat and this is removed with the use of the carbon dioxide laser as well. The eye is protected, local anesthesia is placed into the fat deposits, the laser is used to make an incision on the inside of the eyelid thus avoiding the middle of the lid which frequently scars and pulls the lid down. The fat is gently teased out and conservatively excised using the laser for a bloodless procedure and no closure is required inside the lid as this area heals very quickly.
What is becoming more common is to use the laser to resurface or tighten the skin under the eye and then, when needed, inject Restylane or Juvederm to create a smoother area and remove the dark circles. This works very well and with less surgical time. Fat can be harvested from someplace your body wont mind donating and injected into the under eye area (as well as many areas of the face) to create the desired fullness and this will last indefinitely after one or two touchups, whereas Restylane and Juvederm will require touchups every five to seven months.
