Blepharoplasty: how to treat drooping eyelids

Drooping eyelids are often associated with the signs of ageing. Indeed, with age the skin is less elastic and toned and it loses flexibility. The face sags, the eyelids start to droop and the eyes may look puffy.

However, this weakening of the eyelids can also appear due to certain external factors such as tobacco, alcohol or lack of sleep. Similarly, genetics may also be a factor. This is the case when your brow ridge makes the eye look droopy.

Many people today resort to cosmetic surgery to treat droopy eyelids. This is called blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery. This procedure makes you look younger and less tired because it softens the signs of ageing on the eyelids.

After surgery, you can say goodbye to your droopy eyelids, dark circles, pockets of fat, wrinkles and fat herniation under the eyes.

Before the operation, an initial consultation is carried out with your surgeon to make an ophthalmological assessment and to be aware of your past history. This is an opportunity for him to eliminate certain contraindications but also to find out your requirements and wishes.

On the day of the blepharoplasty procedure, the surgeon will adopt the suitable technique. Nevertheless, he will follow some basic steps:

• He will make some cutaneous incisions on the lower and upper eyelids. As a result, the scars will be hidden between the mobile and fixed part of the eyelid and level with the eyelashes
• After making these incisions, he removes any fat herniation and excess skin from the eyelids
• The practitioner then sutures the incisions with very fine, non-resorbable stitches

If the surgeon is only treating bags under the eyes without loose skin, the conjunctival route may be preferable. The scar will then be hidden in the inner lining of the eyelid.

The anaesthetic can be local or general depending on your wishes and the recommendations of your surgeon. The procedure can also be performed with or without hospitalization which will be decided in tandem with your anaesthesiologist and surgeon.

A blepharoplasty session lasts between half an hour and one hour depending on the practitioner and the technique used.

Initial results are visible at the end of the procedure. Your face will look more relaxed and you will look visibly younger by about ten years.

Result will be optimal three to six months after the procedure. When the skin tissue regains its suppleness and the oedema and bruising subside. The final results will be seen after one year when the scars have completely faded and are no longer visible.

The benefit of blepharoplasty is permanent for bags under the eyes because they never reappear. For loose skin, results last about ten years and then the effects of time will become visible again.

Costs for blepharoplasty depend on the number of eyelids to be operated on.

*Fees may vary from one practitioner to another.

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