Is It Time for an Eyelid Lift? Five Important Signs That You Might Need A Blepharoplasty

Several times a week, people ask you “Are you OK?” You think, “Why do they keep asking me that, I’m fine!” You might even start to get a bit irritated at the question. But look in the mirror. You may have missed something. As time has passed, you developed some extra, hanging, heavy-looking, wrinkled skin on the upper eyelids. The eyes don’t appear as open as they once did and have a more closed, “less awake” look. There might also be a darkened look or hollowing along the rim of the lower eyelids which have also grown wrinkled and are a bit puffy or baggy. This all makes you look a little sad, possibly depressed or as if you’re not getting enough sleep. No one wants to look this way, even if any part of it is actually true. Your friends aren’t being mean, but they’ve noticed this look to your face and they are concerned. They might not realize that this all commonly comes along for the ride with the aging process. They might not realize that they’ve got it happening too! An eyelid lift, or blepharoplasty, works to reverse all these issues. Hopefully, a blepharoplasty results in the replacing of the old question with a new one: “What did you do? You look so healthy and great!”

You seem to often need to turn your head in order to see things clearly at the periphery of your vision. Often the extra skin hanging on the upper eyelids does its most cosmetic damage at the outer part of the eyelid, just under the corner of the eyebrow. Besides the “downward tilt” look this gives to the eyes (reinforcing a sad or tired impression), this also tends to actually block your outer or peripheral field of vision. Those who depend upon their peripheral vision for work or sports might actually notice this problem before the cosmetic aspects are appreciated. This will also be alleviated by a blepharoplasty, which will give you a more open and awake look while simultaneously improving your peripheral vision.

You rarely make it through a movie without closing your eyes “for just a minute”. Same thing for a book. Same thing for the TV. Same thing for a car ride. Why are you always so tired? Maybe it’s not you but your eyes that are always so tired. Chronically fatigued and exhausted from a full day of “lifting weights” and opening and closing those heavy eyelids all day, every day. When those heavy eyelids are given even a moment to rest, they take it…and out you go. Maybe you don’t need more coffee. Maybe you need to lighten that load that your eyelids currently bear with little relief. When that extra, wrinkled, heavy skin of the upper eyelids is removed during a blepharoplasty, you can almost hear the eyelids say, “Ahhh…Thank you!” You’ll look like you feel that way, too.

You know that you look like you are tired, depressed, stressed, and uninterested which makes you feel tired, depressed, stressed, and uninterested which only makes you look even more like you are tired, depressed, stressed and uninterested. This is one bad vicious circle that all starts with the aged appearance of the eyes calling the shots. A blepharoplasty creates a more alert, youthful, enthusiastic, engaging, happy and healthy look. The bags and wrinkles are removed from the lower eyelids and we have a more relaxed, less stressed, I’ve just returned from vacation kind of look. You see that twinkle back in your eye when you look in the mirror and then you get some nice positive feedback from those around you who can’t help but notice that you look great. That also makes you feel better about yourself and then you start to look even better. Seems like that we got that circle thing working the right way now.

Do you have to pull up rather significantly on your eyebrow just to get your eye shadow on properly? What you are pulling up is that extra, loose skin that’s been sitting on your upper eyelids, hiding the “crease” of the lid that you are trying to get to with your eye shadow. One of the goals of a blepharoplasty is to restore that crease, and make it crisply defined once the extra skin has been removed. In fact, the incision to remove the extra skin is actually made in the crease so it can be well reestablished and hide the scar at the very same time! Sometimes the upper eyelid skin becomes so redundant and excessive that it is touching or even lying upon the eyelashes and needs to be lifted off just to put on eyeliner or mascara. If you’ve reached this point, please don’t wait. You should really schedule an appointment with a board certified plastic surgeon soon. A blepharoplasty is a very sophisticated and unique procedure. Gentle in scope, meticulous and fine work, and minimal recovery are the hallmarks of a blepharoplasty which all stand in great contrast to the impact of its results on how it will make you look and how it will make you feel.

Dr. Lyle Back is originally from New York City, receiving his medical and surgical training at Rutgers Medical School, Cooper Hospital – University Medical Center, and Ohio State. He is Board Certified in General Surgery (ABS) and Plastic Surgery (ABPS). He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS), and a longstanding member of the premier American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). He served as a Professor of Plastic Surgery at Temple University and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and performed reconstructive surgery with “Operation Smile” in Vietnam. He specializes in the full range of the most modern and state of the art facial cosmetic surgery procedures and non-surgical cosmetic enhancement techniques available today.