Eyelid Surgery Enhance Your Appearance and Vision

By Wilfred R. Ehrmantraut, Jr., MD, PA

Plastic Surgery Center of Southern Maryland, P.A.

. http://www.plasticsurgeryofsomd.com

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Eyelid Surgery Enhance Your Appearance and Vision

Our eyes tell a lot about how we feel. However, as we age our eyes may make us look more tired or aged than we really are. Eyelid surgery, also called blepharoplasty, is a surgical procedure to improve the appearance of the upper eyelids, lower eyelids, or both and gives a rejuvenated appearance to the surrounding area of your eyes, making you look more alert and less tired. Specifically, eyelid surgery can treat the following

Loose or sagging skin over the upper eyelid, sometimes impairing vision

Excess fatty deposits or the puffiness in the upper eyelids and “bags” under the eyes

In some cases, droopiness of the upper eyelids can cause a visual field defect so bad that some health insurance plans will cover the cost of upper lid surgery.

Eyelid surgery is usually performed on adult men and women who have healthy facial tissue and muscles. Individuals must have realistic goals for improvement of the eyelid region, which the surgeon can help define. Patients should undergo the surgery because they want to not because of what other people tell them. Also surgical candidates have to be non-smokers.

Some people may not be candidates for the surgery, such as those who have dry eyes. In some cases the surgery can make this condition worse. Also tell your surgeon if you have any medical conditions, including the following eye disease such as glaucoma, dry eye or a detached retina, thyroid disorders such as Graves' disease and cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure or other circulatory disorders.

During eyelid surgery medications are administered for your comfort such as intravenous sedation or general anesthesia. Droopy conditions of the upper lid are corrected through an incision within the natural crease of the upper eyelid. This allows the surgeon to reposition fat deposits, tighten muscles and tissue and remove excess skin. For the lower eyelids, the surgeon makes an incision just below the lower lash line and removes excess skin and fat deposits. Alternatively the surgeon may make an incision inside the lower eyelid in order to redistribute or remove excess fat.

The results of eyelid surgery will appear gradually as swelling and bruising subside. Patients are usually very happy with their better-defined eyelid and more alert, rejuvenated appearance. Also the scars are usually not noticeable at all.

The first step is choosing a surgeon you can trust. Be sure to make sure your plastic surgery is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and has privileges to perform the surgery in a hospital. If the surgeon operates in a surgery center, make sure it is state-licensed and Medicare certified or accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency such as the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF).