Would I benefit from a blepharoplasty procedure?
I have been very concerned about the lower lid.
I’m 46 years old and don't wear any make up.
I have been very concerned about the lower lid.
I don't know who else to ask so I thought I would try this website.
Since I have no way of covering up my eyes, I wear glasses all the time.
In your professional opinion, would I really need this procedure?
I would like to know before I spend money.
Thanks
Thank you for your question!
You’re 46 years old and you’re asking if you’ll benefit from a lower eyelid blepharoplasty.
Well, in reviewing your photos, there are certain things that I would let you notice
before moving forward with the lower eyelid blepharoplasty.
First understanding what are the intentions of a lower eyelid blepharoplasty.
Well, lower eyelid blepharoplasty addresses puffiness, eyelid position and to a degree,
when appropriate, excess skin.
So, if you have puffiness under your eyes and it appears you do, then addressing the
lower eyelid area will make sense to have blepharoplasty.
But also I would ask you to look at the context of the area below the lower eyelid, the cheek
area.
At 46, you probably noticed that there’s been some volume loss.
A few years ago, I wrote a book “The Fine Art of Looking Younger” and the point of
writing this book is to help people understand the facial aging issues that we deal with
every day in our practice.
And the questions are always about correction of volume with filler versus dealing with
correction by surgical procedures.
And it has to do with just two essential principles: as we get older, we lose bone, muscle and
fat.
And then we also get laxity.
Things get loose.
The lower eyelid tendon for example becomes looser.
The orbicularis muscle gets a little more lax and so there’s a support issue that
may be part of the whole lower eyelid rejuvenation process for you.
Now, when we do an evaluation for lower eyelid blepharoplasty, we also look at the tone the
lower eyelid.
We do something called a snap test.
We pull the eyelid down and see how well it comes back up.
So, addressing the fat pocket as well as may be lifting or tightening the lateral canthal
tendon may be necessary.
And looking from different perspectives, we have to kind of see if there’s relative
prominence of the eye to deal with any type of support structure in the lower eyelid.
I also wrote an article many years ago called “Ethnic Considerations in Eyelid Surgery”.
And it was response to a time where more and more people who are not Caucasian were embracing
and exploring cosmetic surgery procedures.
And unfortunately, traditional cosmetic procedures particularly like lower eyelid blepharoplasty
where an external incision is made and the lower eyelid is opened up and fat is removed
and skin removed for people who are ethnically such as those of African origin has prominent
eyes, that become problematic and that resulted in eyelid being pulled down.
I also wanted to share with you that someone of someone with dark skin color also has to
be mindful of the techniques applied to lower eyelid blepharoplasty.
At the same time, on order to optimize the aesthetic appearance of the lower eyelid,
taking away the negative is one part of the equation and possibly addressing the volume
loss can be the second part of the equation.
So you have to consider that as well.
By adding volume in the cheek area, whether it’s through augmentation with fillers,
whether it’s through augmentation through a cheek implant, whether it’s even through
lifting by face lifting, it can have a tremendous impact in the context of how the eyes look.
The last part of this equation is I always look at skin quality as well.
People often mistake having lower eyelid surgery as a way to reduce wrinkles or to reduce dark
circles.
So address the skin quality issue, we actually routinely use something called platelet-rich
plasma in our practice for lower eyelid rejuvenation.
We actually draw your own blood, we spin it and we concentrate the platelets, the cells
necessary for healing like when you have a cut as well as the growth factors necessary
for healing as well.
We take this and we place it under the skin of the eyelids and we have seen a qualitative
improvement in the skin and that includes improvements in wrinkles, improvement in skin
color and an overall healthier glow to the skin which considerably diminishes every passing
of the year after the age of 30.
So, I think in summary, the suggestions of course is to understand what the elements
of the lower eyelid should be addressed by lower eyelid blepharoplasty since the term
blepharoplasty simply means to change or to operatively surgical procedure in the lower
eyelid but there’s a wide spectrum of options that come with that.
And understanding the relative support of the lower eyelid, the support, the position
relative to the eye, the volumetric loss, the adjacent area in the cheek area as well
as the skin quality.
So meet with experienced cosmetic surgeon who know this area very well, who have a lot
of experience with different skin types.
Once you find someone that resonates with you, I think you will find that this something
that will help you feel better about the lower eyelid area.
So I wish you the best of luck, I hope that was helpful and thank you for your question!