Laser Eyelid Surgery

By Craig E. Vigliante, MD, DMD

The “eyes are the windows to the soul.” This is true in life and also in Cosmetic Facial Surgery. There are not many procedures we do that can make patients look younger and more attractive. We look into peoples' eyes every day during daily conversation. Unfortunately, our eyes begin showing the signs of facial aging first. Many people would like to have people focus on their beautiful eyes but are distracted by the excess skin and wrinkles that develop around the eyes. We can help. With the latest lasers and techniques on the market, we can rejuvenate someone's eyes in one short sitting, improving their looks and the way they feel about themselves.

There are many modalities to perform eyelid procedures. These range from scalpel incisions to electrocautery to laser treatments. The key to any eyelid procedure is to minimize complications including bruising and swelling. One tremendous improvement over the years has been the development of lasers to perform incisions, including eyelid surgery. These lasers make incisions as small as 0.2 mm (YES-only 0.2mm), allowing the surgeon to be very precise. In addition, since a laser is making the incision, there is virtually no bleeding since the laser coagulates as it cuts. This has been a major advance over the older techniques of performing eyelid surgery since patients would have to deal with increased bleeding, bruising, and swelling.

The premier laser on the market today to perform this procedure is the Lumenis CO2 Laser Technology. The laser programs on this machine allow us to rejuvenate an eyelid with the utmost care and precision. The upper lid excess skin is removed. The remaining skin is tightened. In regard to the lower lids, the fine lines, wrinkles, and sun damage are removed without surgery with the Active Fx hand piece on this laser system. A major advantage of this system is that these results can be achieved with ONE treatment—unlike many other laser systems on the market. Most other systems require 4 to 6 treatments on the skin to get the same results.

So which Facial Laser can take years off your eyes? If you are looking to remove excess skin, decrease wrinkles, improve skin tone, and remove decades of sun damage all with ONE treatment, then the CO2 Fractional Facial Laser is the one for you. This in-office procedure takes only 60 minutes to perform. This laser can take 5 to 10 years of facial aging off of your eyes in one sitting.