Hallo, welcome to my frequently asked questions,
today I’m answering commonly asked questions
about upper blepharoplasty.
When can an alternative to surgery
a non-surgical technique be used?
In answering this question we will talk about,
well what are the indications for a non-surgical technique,
what exactly is a non-surgical technique
and what are the options available?
When is a surgical technique preferred,
i.e. upper blepharoplasty?
And how can I ensure that I get the best surgery for me?
My name is Dr. Julian De Silva
and I’m a London based facial cosmetic and plastic surgeon.
And blepharoplasty is the commonest procedure
that I complete for patients on a daily basis.
So, in answering this question I’m really talking about
the principles of surgical and non-surgical techniques
for upper Blepharoplasty
that I discuss with my patients every day.
So, in terms of when can non-surgical methods
be used for upper eyelid surgery?
Well, this is really going to be indicated
where patients have relatively mild changes
in their upper eyelid.
And this may be relatively early changes in the skin
that's such as mild skin laxity.
It may be an absence of fat coming forward
as a bulge in the upper eyelid.
It may also be the fact that there is fine lines
related to movement which may be more treated
with non-surgical techniques such as Botox,
and it may also depend on your ethnicity and skin type.
So, in terms of what are the available nonsurgical techniques
Well, there are a number of different techniques
and these different procedures all really favour
a form of skin tightening.
And skin tightening can really depend
on a different type of energy.
And that energy can be related to light, heat, cold,
radio frequency, electrical energy.
All these different devices that use different types of energy,
ultimately create a scar in the skin
and that scaring creates contracture
and reducing the amount of skin and tightening the skin.
So, although different types of techniques have been used
in terms of non-surgical treatments they all work
in a similar fashion which is tightening up the skin.
One common part of the belief with non-surgical treatments
is that they have no recovery.
But these devices well, they are really working
on tightening the skin and they do have a recovery.
They are going to have some swelling,
they are going to cause some redness
and that recovery time is going to vary from person to person,
but it’s really going to be a minimum of a week
and certainly the final result is going to be
for some weeks after that.
And so, the term non-surgical technic in upper blepharoplasty
is not a true non-surgical technique
in that there's gonna be some recovery after the treatment.
In addition there are also some risks and its important
when considering having one of these treatments
that it really is suitable for you
and that may depend on the indications for the treatment.
It may depend on your skin type, your ethnicity.
But certainly some of these devices
could actually have a negative effect on healing and scaring
in certain individuals.
And so, it would be important to talk about it through
with your doctor and your surgeon
before having one of these treatments.
Other alternatives in early part of aging is the use of Botox.
And botox can be particularly effective
for fine lines and wrinkles associated with movement
and that might be smiling around cross fit,
around the corners of the eyes.
It may be frowning and a deep line between the eyebrows.
It may be lines across your forehead
associated with facial movement.
Botox can be particularly effective
for these changes around your eyelids
and can complement upper eyelid surgery
or non-surgical treatments around the eyelids.
When is a surgical blepharoplasty more indicated?
Well, this is going to be more when you have other changes
associated with your upper eyelid
and this might be because,
there is more loose skin in the upper eyelid.
This may be because there is little bulge of fat and fullness
that’s coming forward and all of this
will have some of these changes with natural aging.
But once they are present, well there is no way
that that fat can be reshaped and scalped
without having upper blepharoplasty.
There are no non-surgical treatments
that are really going to improve that.
Other indication may be your skin type and your ethnicity,
because there are certain ethnicities
that aren't gonna be suitable for this skin tightening
that’s associated with the non-surgical treatments.
So, the other factor with surgical blepharoplasty is well,
generally speaking the recovery from upper blepharoplasty
is pretty fast and certainly for my patients
we use things that or mean recovery
such as Platelets Rich Plasma, which means
using your own growth factors to heal the body faster.
So, generally speaking even at one week
after upper blepharoplasty undergoing surgery,
most people have a relatively favourable outcome
and although there will be some swelling and some pinkness
generally, the appearance is relatively good
and with a little bit of makeup and concealer
it can be difficult to tell
that you’ve had upper blepharoplasty even at one week.
And so, really the recovery time between
for upper eyelid whether it’s surgical blepharoplasty
or non-surgical skin tightening,
well, there is not a huge difference in terms of recovery
and it’s fair to say, that some people
will recover very quickly,
some people will take a little longer.
But overall the recovery with upper blepharoplasty
is generally very fast.
When the surgery is done in a specific way
and care and attention is taken to the finer detail.
So, the final question that we were going to talk about was,
how can I ensure that I get the best result for me,
whether that’s a non-surgical blepharoplasty
or surgical blepharoplasty?
Well, in terms of the best results for you,
it means doing some research and ensuring
that you seek a doctor and surgeon’s opinion
that are able to give a balanced view,
and look at the change that you specifically have
in your eyelids and be able to evaluate those
and give you a management plan that is specific
and unique to you.
And that means doing a certain amount of research
about your potential doctor and surgeon,
it means looking before and after photographs
and meeting with that doctor and surgeon as a real consultation
and talking through the potential techniques
that can benefit you, the potential draw backs
and formulating a plan based on that.
So, in summary we have talked about non-surgical treatments
that can be used, upper blepharoplasty.
We’ve talked about the indications for them
and we have talked about the various different types.
We’ve also talked about surgical blepharoplasty
and how that can be used to particularly treat
specific parts of the upper eyelids,
and we’ve also looked at the recovery time
between the two different treatments.
I hope this information is being useful for you.
Thank you for watching.