Eyelid surgery – also known as eye bag removal – takes away excess skin from your eyelids and tightens up the eye area, which can make you look more youthful and more alert.
1 - 3 hours
generally day case
first 4 - 6 weeks
6 weeks
Also called eyelid surgery, blepharoplasty is a cosmetic procedure that can remove excess skin from your upper and/or lower eyelids and tighten up the eye area.
As we age, our eyelids can stretch and the muscles which support them can weaken, causing excess skin and fat to gather above and below the eyelids. This can result in droopy eyebrows, saggy upper lids and bags below the eyes. As well as making you appear older than you are, this can also affect your vision.
Eye can also look baggy and wrinkled for other reasons, such as genetics, lack of sleep and general lifestyle. No matter the reason, blepharoplasty should be able to help you achieve a more youthful and refreshed look in the eye area.
If you feel that your eyes are causing you to appear older than you are or that your vision is affected by sagging eyelids, blepharoplasty could offer you the following benefits:
All cosmetic procedures involve some degree of risk and potential side effects. Those associated with eyelid surgery can include:
For blepharoplasty, you’ll be given general anaesthetic, meaning that you’ll be asleep throughout the whole procedure. Once you’re asleep, your surgery will begin.
If you’re having surgery on your upper eyelids, your surgeon will cut along the fold of the eyelid and remove some excess skin, muscle and fat, then close the incision.
If you’re having surgery on your lower eyelids, your surgeon will cut just below your lashes, either in your eye’s natural crease or inside the lower lid. They will remove excess fat, skin and muscle and then close the incision.
Eyelid surgery can take up to 3 hours to complete.
If you’re bothered by sagging skin around your eyes, or if you have drooping eyelids that affect your vision, you might benefit from eyelid surgery. To be suitable for this procedure, you should be over 18 years old, in generally good health, and have realistic expectations of the results you can expect.
After your eyelid surgery, you should be prepared to take around 10 days off work, as you’ll have noticeable swelling and bruising for the first week or so. You’ll have some tightness, irritation and discomfort around your eyes for the first few days, but you can help to reduce this with ice packs and suitable pain medication.
For the first 2-3 weeks after your blepharoplasty, you should avoid smoking, rubbing your eyes, wearing contact lenses and any strenuous activity or heavy lifting.
It can take around 4-6 weeks to for your final results to become visible.
You might find that your vision is a bit blurry after your surgery – this is caused by swelling of your eyelid(s), which can affect your vision. This blurriness will usually correct itself within a day or so.
Having excess tissue removed from both your upper and lower eyelids could help your eyes to appear bigger and more alert.
If you have a sagging brow that you’d like to address, a brow lift might be right for you as it targets the brow and forehead. If you’d just like to tighten and brighten up your eye area, eyelid surgery may be a better option. It’s possible to combine the two procedures – your surgeon will let you know if this is suitable for you.
While there is no ‘best’ time to have eyelid surgery, the ideal time for you might be when you have noticeable signs of ageing in your eyelids, but still have suitable skin elasticity for the procedure to have a noticeable effect.
Any scars from eyelid surgery will usually be concealed along the natural folds of your eyelids and will fade as you heal over time.
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