What happens to our eyelids as we age?

As our body grows old, so does our skin. Slowly over a period of time, our skin loses its elasticity. Due to the effect of gravity, the excessive skin soon gets collected over our upper and lower eyelids. This excessive skin then hangs down forming a fold or a hood.

This excessive loose skin hanging over the lower eyelids causes wrinkles and bulges. When this occurs on the upper eyelids, the excessive skin forms a hood which can get in the way of clear vision.

Like other areas in the body, fat is also present around the eyeball to cushion it from the skull. This can also cause bulging in the lower and upper eyelids. There is a thin membrane to hold the fat in place. When this membrane weakens with age, the fat juts into the eyelids, causing baggy eyelids.

These wrinkles, bulges and bags together add up to give the eyes, a ‘tired’ or ‘old’ look.

 

Is there any solution to bring youth back to one’s eyes again?

Yes! An eye procedure called blepharoplasty can make your eyelids and eyes look young once again! Blepharoplasty is the removal of excessively wrinkled skin and fat from baggy eyelids. Sometimes excess muscles from the lower and upper eyelids may also be removed.

 

Which eye conditions can be treated using eyelid surgery or Blepharoplasty

  • Fat deposits which are seen as lower eyelid bags
  • Droopy lower and upper eyelids.
  • Wrinkles and excess skin of the lower eyelid.
  • Sagging extra skin or loose skin which forms a fold, and often changes the normal shape of one’s upper eyelid.
  • Vision problem due to this fold of loose skin.

Blepharoplasty is performed using the latest equipment like radiofrequency cautery, a technique which allows scar-less surgery.

 

Will a scar be visible after the Eyelid Surgery?

No. In case of an upper lid blepharoplasty, the cut is made through the upper lid crease. This crease is the normally visible fold on your upper lid. Thus, the cut that is made gets concealed completely.

In case of a lower eyelid blepharoplasty, (a surgery to treat eyelid bags) the eyelid surgery is done through a trans-conjunctival route. By trans-conjunctival route, one means that the eyelid surgery is done from the inner side of the lower lid. Thus, there is no scar visible on the lower lid from the outside at all.

 

How soon will the effects be visible after the Eyelid Surgery?

It is common to have some bruising or change in colour and a little pain and discomfort immediately after the surgery. After about 7 days, the stitches are removed and in a month’s time, the healing process is generally complete with appreciable and visible results.