Do I look like a good candidate for Blepharoplasty?
I'm relatively young, 23, but have had hooded eyelids my whole life.
I am wondering if having a lazy eye may be connected.
It seems to affect my right eyelid considerably more than the other.
Does the hooding look severe enough to make me a good candidate for surgery and would
my age be a concern?
Thank you for your question!
You’re 23 years old and you’re describing a situation of having hooded eyelids your
whole life and you’re asking if you’re a good candidate for blepharoplasty and in
addition, you’re asking whether or not you’re quote lazy eye is somehow connected to the
hooded eyelids.
Well, to begin with, I can tell you that as a cosmetic oculofacial plastic surgeon which
means I have first a baseline training in ophthalmology before cosmetic surgery.
The strabismus or the lazy eye you are referring to has nothing to do with the hooding of the
eyelids so we get that out of the way.
As far as the hooding concerned, very often it’s a genetic trait.
It can run in your family.
It may not be both parents having it but it’s most likely someone has these genes for this
particular type of look.
So the question whether or not you are a candidate for blepharoplasty really depends on what
your desired outcome is.
If you have hooding that represents relative excess skin, a physical exam helps determine
what the potential appearance can be.
We often do a simple Q-tip rolling test where we show the patient with a Q-tip into the
fold of the eyelid and show what is possible to help them look the way they want to look.
If they look like that and of course if we’re making this determination, I always assess
whether or not I able to have the patient close their eyes appropriately because that’s
one of the most common concerns about upper eyelid blepharoplasty is will I able to close
my eyes after the surgery because of course they see all of the horror stories about that
and of course, in our practice, we always state that will not be a problem.
It is an exceedingly unlikely event in my hands.
So what we do is we determine if there is a presence of extra skin or if this a situation
where there isn’t extra skin then a non-incisional blepharoplasty which is more of technique
we use of Asian eyelid surgery where we actually create a fold without removing skin may be
an option that may potentially right for you.
So when you think about it, it’s really not necessarily about the age but it’s really
ultimately the appearance of the eyes and if there’s an opportunity to improve the
appearance of the eyes with the cosmetic upper eyelid blepharoplasty to your liking, then
certainly you can be candidate for this procedure.
But as I said, it does require a physical examination to ascertain whether or not you’re
a candidate or whether or not you will achieve the look you desire.
So my recommendation is that you meet with cosmetic oculofacial plastic surgeons.
My advice is towards specialization, people who really know very well especially in working
with a younger person.
It’s not as common as older people who need cosmetic eyelid surgery that more specialized
surgeons would do.
So I think you want to be comfortable with the surgeon that you meet with and be of course,
spend the time to determine whether or not you like the look once that eyelid fold is
addressed.
You don’t want to have any remorse or regret after making this important decision.
If you find someone, I think it would be great for you to move forward and see the shape
of your eyelid.
Upper eyelid hooding can make you look tired, make you look older and so certainly, artistically,
upper eyelid blepharoplasty will probably be a value.
But again, it’s your choice, your decision based on your aesthetic.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question!