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Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Booklet |
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Blepharoplasty
As the eyelids age, the eyebrows sink down, the skin of the upper lids become saggy and overhanging and the skin of the lower lids sags and often bulges. The bulging is caused by fat herniating out from underneath your eyes. All of these problems can be corrected. The eyebrows are lifted by making an incision either in the temple or some place in the middle of your forehead in a wrinkle where the scar will be less visible when it heals. The excess skin of the upper eyelids is easily removed and the scars lie in the natural creases of your upper eyelids. The lower eyelids are the most difficult to correct, for if one pulls the skin too tightly, one can create some deformity in the shape of the eye. Often it is not possible to correct all of the lower eyelid deformities entirely, and one must either accept an incomplete correction or some change in the eye shape. The surgery also exposes the fat that is pushing out, creating the bulging in the lower eyelid, and this fat is either removed or sewn back underneath the eye where it belongs. Eyelid surgery and brow surgery can be performed in the office. There is a very light dressing over the eyes, and if you will hold gentle pressure either with gauze sponges or with a little ice pack, you can very much decrease the postoperative swelling and discoloration.
The dressing is removed from the eyes three to five days following surgery, and the sutures are normally taken out at that time. All of the incisions should heal inconspicuously, although often the upper eyelid excision, if it extends past the outside of the eye, will take longer to heal. The lower eyelid incision where it, too, extends to the side beyond the eye, also takes longer to heal and very often you will be advised to keep some tape across this incision for three to six weeks after surgery. The discoloration should be gone in seven to ten days, and everything should be fairly well healed in three to four weeks. Beginning at about one week after surgery, you can put makeup on your eyes. Many people wear sunglasses while their eyes heal. This is fine and does not affect healing for the final result.
Terence Davidson, M.D., F.A.C.S.
UCSD Otolaryngology Division
200 West Arbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92103-8895
(619) 543-6631 |