First impressions come from the eyes. The eyelids and surrounding skin and muscle form our expressions. Even with a good night’s sleep, loose skin over the eyes or fat bags under the eyes can make you look tired, depressed or older than you years. Blepharoplasty can be both a functional and cosmetic surgical procedure intended to reshape the upper eyelid or lower eyelid. When an advanced amount of upper eyelid skin is present, the skin may hang over the eyelashes and cause a loss of peripheral vision. The outer and upper parts of the visual field are most commonly affected and the condition may cause difficulty with activities such as driving or reading.
In this circumstance, upper eyelid blepharoplasty is performed to improve peripheral vision. Patients with a less severe amount of excess skin may have a similar procedure performed for cosmetic reasons. Lower eyelid blepharoplasty is almost always done for cosmetic reasons, to improve puffy lower eyelid “bags” and reduce the wrinkling of skin.
