Eyelid Plastic Surgery (Blepharoplasty
)
The blepharoplasty (eyelid plastic surgery)
operation is performed to rejuvenate the appearance of the
eyelids. There are several options that are available, the
choice of which depends on the age of the patient, the amount
of fat in the upper and lower eyelids, and the tone of the
eyelids.
Operation: The eyelid surgery
may be performed in the office or in the hospital, depending
on the age and the additional procedures that may be performed
with the operation. The entire procedure of all four eyelids
(or only 2 eyelids, if desired) takes less that one hour.
Age of the Patient: The eyelid
procedure is routinely performed on patients from their early
twenties through patients in their seventies.
Anesthesia: The eyelid surgery
is almost always performed under intravenous sedation with
local anesthesia. The patient is drowsy, pain-free, unaware
of the procedure that is being performed.
Convalescence: This cosmetic
surgery has the intriguing result of the patient temporarily
looking worse than he or she feels. This is because of the
modest bruising that is present, and the relative pain-free
feeling after the first day. Bruising is mostly gone after
8-10 days, the sutures are removed (if present) in 4-5 days.
Complications: Dr. Sherman
will discuss all potential complications, and the relative
frequency (or infrequency) of their occurrences. This might
include bleeding.
Variations of the Operation:
- Laser or Transconjunctival Blepharoplasty:
Dr. Sherman has performed hundreds of these operations,
and was featured in an article in Elle magazine,
performing this operation. This procedure is ideal for the
younger patients, in their twenties through early forties,
who have inherited a family tendency for puffy upper and
lower eyelids. It is this fat that causes the puffiness,
and is unrelated to dietary fat, and is unresponsive to
dieting. A very thin patient may have this as well as a
heavier patient.
The laser is used to make an incision in the conjunctiva
of the lower eyelid (inside the eyelid), after which the
fat is removed with the laser. The advantage of this procedure
is that there is no visible scar on the lower eyelid, bruising
is rare or minimal, and the patient may return back to work
more quickly than with the traditional blepharoplasty. This
procedure is almost always performed in the office setting.
If only the lower eyelids are performed, the entire operation
takes less than 30 minutes, and the patient is usually back
to work in less than one week, without the need for any
sutures.
|
