Do you feel like you look tired?

As one ages, the tissues around the eyes can change, resulting in an appearance that can result in your eyes making you look older than you feel. When looking at the aging eye (or periorbital) region, one may notice several changes. The upper eyelids can be full with skin excess or even hooding of tissue, the latter often being more prominent in the outer upper lid. Not uncommonly, these findings are made more noticeable by drooping eyebrows. While looking in the mirror, place a finger above the outer eyebrow and gently pull upwards. If your upper lid looks brighter and you look less tired, then the combination of upper eyelid blepharoplasty with or without a browlift may be right for you. Similarly, pull gently outwards and upwards on the lower eyelid to see if you have improvement below the eye. If so, a lower eyelid blepharoplasty may be in order.

 

Prior to considering surgery, Dr. Atkins and Dr. Frodel will discuss other important considerations for the eye region, such as combining Botox®, fillers, or using lasers to optimize improvement is this important area. This is particularly the case in the lower eyelids where a multi-pronged approach is usually recommended. Additionally, Dr. Frodel will review whether a browlift or just a blepharoplasty alone is best for rejuvenation of the upper eyelid region.

 

Upper Eyelid Blepharoplasty 

When it is determined that an isolated upper blepharoplasty is best, this procedure can commonly be performed under local anesthesia, often without sedation if it is the only procedure being performed. While sitting in the preoperative area, Dr. Frodel will mark out the proposed amount of upper lid tissue to excise. You will then be taken to the operating room where the procedure is performed under sterile conditions. After injection of local anesthetic, the marked tissue is excised and the incisions closed with suture. The recovery is usually quite quick for isolated upper eyelid blepharoplasty, with suture removal 4-5 days after surgery at which time make-up can be applied.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Browlift with Upper Eyelid Blepharoplasty

On occasion, drooping eyebrows can add significantly to the aging appearance of the upper eyelids. Please see the “Browlift” section for further review of this procedure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower Eyelid Blepharoplasty

Lower eyelid surgery is indicated when there is skin laxity and bulging fat in the lower lids. Under sedation anesthesia, an incision is made at the outer corner of the eyelid and extended under the eyelashes across the lower eyelid. The skin is lifted and the protruding fat either carefully removed or moved downwards to lift out the crease under the eyelid. The skin flap is pulled outwards and upwards to tighten the lower lid with a small amount of skin excision. Swelling and bruising is somewhat common and make-up can be applied at 7-10 days after surgery. Dr. Frodel and Dr. Atkins will discuss adjunct lower eyelid procedures such as fillers to the “tear trough” area, and/or laser or radiofrequency treatments to further tighten the lid.

 

If periorbital rejuvenation seems to be an option for you, please call for a consultation with either Dr. Atkins or Dr. Frodel at  678-213-2220.

Call our office to schedule today!  678-213-2220