Upper Eyelids

Eyelid incisions Heavy or hooded upper lids can be corrected with an upper blepharoplasty. The operation will rejuvenate your eyelids to give you a more awake, alert and interested look. This is a relatively simple procedure performed under sedation and local anaesthesia as day case surgery (in and out the same day) in my own private facility.

The upper lid incision, as in the diagram, is camouflaged in the skin crease and may extend into the crow's feet for a little distance, as required to remove the upper lid skin redundancy. Sometimes there is a fat pad in the medial part of the eyelid near the nose which requires trimming to remove the bulge, but otherwise fat is very rarely removed nowadays from the upper lid, a full lid being recognised as youthful and preferable. Hollow lids used to be created from the excessive removal of fat, an appearance which can exacerbate an aged appearance. Once the excess skin (and fat if necessary) have been removed, the cut is closed with a suture.

Surgery is performed in the morning. Following surgery, when you are up and about and I have assessed you as being ready, you will be discharged home with some light plasters covering the suture ends. You may be given some artificial tears to use in the first few days after surgery.

Post-operatively, you may get some bruising and swelling most of which will have resolved by the time the sutures are removed at 5-7 days post-operatively. Once the sutures are out, out of town patients can return home.

Complications are unlikely but may include bleeding, skin loss, dry eye, red eye, infections and a sensitivity of the eyes to light. Lid malpositions can also occur, but should be less common with current methods. The scars are minimal and inconspicuously hidden in the natural upper lid skin fold. The effect of the upper lid blepharoplasty is long-lasting. An upper lid blepharoplasty can be done as a stand-alone procedure or combined with other facial rejuvenation or enhancement surgery, especially lower lid rejuvenation and facelift.

The rejuvenating effect of blepharoplasty is long lasting and is associated with a high degree of patient satisfaction.