No other facial feature reveals more about you than your eyes. When free of wrinkles, bulges and excessive folds, the beauty of the eyes shines unimpeded. As time passes, the delicate skin around the eyes may begin to sag. Pockets of fat may develop in the upper and lower lids. Cosmetic surgery of the eyelids may be recommended in combination with other procedures.

In Greek, “blepharos” means eyelid and “plastieos” means to give form to. In cosmetic surgery, the words combine to refer to the operation which removes pouches, bulges and excess fatty tissue that accumulate in the upper and lower lids.

Most patients have this procedure performed under general anesthesia. Incisions are hidden in the natural folds of the upper eyelids for the upper lid blepharoplasty. For lower lid blepharoplasty, the incision can be made just below the lower lashes, or our preference, inside the lower lid – the transconjunctival approach. This method, used primarily for the removal of fat, gives the advantage of leaving no visible scar of the lower lids.

If removal of skin is also necessary with the removal of fat done through the transconjunctival approach, a “pinch technique” is used, allowing this incision to heal quicker than a normal skin muscle incision. Often fine lines and darkening of the lower lids can be treated at the same time a transconjunctival approach is used by treating the skin of the lower lids with laser abrasion or a chemical peel.