The blepharoplasty (eyelid plastic surgery) operation is performed to rejuvenate the appearance of the eyelids.
There are several options that are available, the choice of which depends on the age of the patient, the amount of fat in the upper and lower eyelids, and the tone of the eyelids.
The eyelid surgery may be performed under Local anaesthesia and sedation or under general anaesthesia in the hospital, depending on the age and the additional procedures that may be performed with the operation.
All four eyelids can be treated at the same procedure. Sometimes it is preferred by the patient to treat only two eyelids. Even when all are treated the operation normally takes less than two hours.
The eyelid procedure is routinely performed on patients from their thirties through patients in their late seventies.
The eyelid surgery is often performed under intravenous sedation with local anaesthesia. The patient is drowsy, pain-free, unaware of the procedure that is being performed. Otherwise the procedure can be also performed under general anaesthesia.
This cosmetic surgery has the intriguing result of the patient temporarily looking worse than he or she feels. This is because of the modest bruising that is present, and the relative pain-free feeling after the first day. Bruising is mostly gone after 8-10 days, the sutures are removed (if present) in 4-5 days.
Dr. Cerqueiro will discuss all potential complications, and the relative frequency (or infrequency) of their occurrences. This might include bleeding.
Variations of the Operation:
This procedure is ideal for the younger patients, in their twenties through early forties, who have inherited a family tendency for puffy upper and lower eyelids. It is this fat that causes the puffiness, and is unrelated to dietary fat, and is unresponsive to dieting. A very thin patient may have this as well as a heavier patient.
The laser or a ‘Colorado’ (very fine) diathermy needle is used to make an incision in the conjunctiva of the lower eyelid (inside the eyelid), after which the fat is removed. The advantage of this procedure is that there is no visible scar on the lower eyelid, bruising is rare or minimal, and the patient may return back to work more quickly than with the traditional blepharoplasty.
If only the lower eyelids are performed, the entire operation takes less than 30 minutes, and the patient is usually back to work in less than one week, without the need for any sutures.
This operation is routinely performed as a day case (without overnight hospitalization). In some patients Laser or chemical peel may be used for ‘smoothing’ the eyelids skin.
This procedure has the advantage of resurface eyelids skin in order to give a fresh eye look and reduce the presence of wrinkles produced by aging and/or sun damaging. Even this is an operation applied on outpatients.
Occasionally the lower eyelid may need to be repositioned, when for example when there is poor tone, or too much sclera (white of the eye) shows below the iris (the coloured part of the eye). This procedure restores the natural shape and the tightness of the lower eyelid and is commonly performed in conjunction with the lower eyelid blepharoplasty, when required.
