As we age, both the upper and lower eyelids can sag, which significantly ages the face and can later cause vision problems. During eyelid surgery, the sagging skin can be removed and you can get rid of the bags under the eyes permanently.
In the bony eye socket, the eyeball is surrounded by a fat pad, the significance of which is mainly shown in the lower eyelid. Above, the excess skin is also influenced by the sagging of the eyebrow, by about 20-30%, or if we want to achieve a perfect result, it should also be lifted. At this time, however, in the vast majority of cases, a surprised look will be the end result, so we usually refrain from this, since after the surgeries, an 80% result brings a definite improvement, with which the vast majority of patients are completely satisfied.
Eyelid surgery is recommended for those who would like to see the wrinkled area around the eyelids tighter, whether it is the baggy area under the eyes or the area of the sagging upper eyelid.
These wrinkles may appear due to aging, and at the same time, personal characteristics may also require surgical intervention. The signs of time leave their mark on the skin of the face and around the eyes, which become deeper and deeper as we age. Laser facial treatments are becoming more and more popular among women, not only at an older age, and lip augmentation can also contribute to alleviating wrinkles around the mouth.
If the situation is different, eyelid surgery is not only necessary, for example, after the age of 40, because our own characteristics also have an influence on this. It may happen that such eyelid surgery is performed because the elongated skin of the eyelids hinders vision. This is considered not only an aesthetic but also a health problem, which can be perfectly corrected by plastic surgery. During the consultation, we take various options into account, then, based on the characteristics, while maintaining the needs of our patient, and medically evaluating, we correct the disturbing factors.
Our eyes tell a lot about us, they are an essential part of our facial expression. This personalized, special plastic surgery intervention can help a lot for those whose upper eyelid is too "droopy" and sagging, which offers a chance to provide a proper view, while achieving a more youthful appearance. The before-and-after picture gallery available at the clinic also testifies to this.
In the case of the upper eyelids, not only the elongation of the eyelid skin causes the problem, but the sagging of the eyebrow arch and the proliferation of fatty tissue can also play a significant role in the development of the situation. Thus, in all cases, it is not enough to remove only the excess skin, it is often necessary to combine it with eyebrow plastic surgery, during which we remove the fatty tissues.
The course of the upper eyelid surgery
How is upper eyelid surgery done?
The surgery is performed under local anesthesia, the entire procedure lasts about 30 minutes. Most people say it is less unpleasant than a dental procedure. So this intervention is almost painless, and the expected duration is only half an hour. During the eyelid surgery, we usually remove a bay leaf-shaped piece of skin, the lower arc of the incision starts 7-8 mm from the eyelashes, and breaks slightly in the outer corner of the eye, according to the arc of the folds visible here, and guided in it. Rarely, there is a small excess of fat in the inner corner of the eye, in which case we also remove it. It can be performed under locally applied anesthesia, we close the wound with an internally running suture line, which also greatly facilitates suture removal.
We place sterile, sticky paper strips on the surgical area, which make it a little uncomfortable to open the eye, but we remove them after 2 days, and we only put them on the entry and exit points of the thread. The wound is sewn together within the layers of the skin, which we remove after 5-6 days. After 1-2 weeks, the scar becomes practically invisible. The operated eyelid can be washed gently, without rubbing, after 9-10 days, and make-up can be applied after about 4 weeks. After the surgery, icing the area is recommended for the first few hours, which means a maximum of 20 minutes per hour, through clothing. (Frozen green peas are very good because the small balls take the shape of the eye.)
Surgery of the lower eyelids is much more complicated and more complications can occur. Basically, two cases are possible when we resort to surgery: the skin sags and fat accumulates in the bags, or the amount of fat increases without the skin sagging. In the first case, the critical part of the surgery is to properly determine the amount of excess skin that will be removed. If we remove too much, the eyelid may turn out later, and if we remove too little, we will not achieve the desired effect. During the surgery, we remove the excess skin and fatty tissue. However, a type of surgery in which we only remove part of the skin is becoming more and more common, we do not remove the fat layer that causes the bags, we spread it out and close the connective tissue layers above it.
The course of the lower eyelid surgery
In the case of the lower eyelid, the situation is more complicated. The change is mainly caused by the fatty tissue located in the eye socket, which protrudes "like a bag" due to the decrease in the elasticity of the tissues.
During the older plastic surgery procedure, the skin was prepared from the muscles around the eye from an incision that started under the lower eyelashes and continued, breaking at a blunt angle at the folds of the corner of the eye. Separating the fibers, we removed the excess fatty tissue, then closed the wound by cutting out the excess skin. However, as we age, the amount of fatty tissue often decreases, so the eye may become "sunken".
Great attention had to be paid to the extent of the skin excision, because if too much was removed, the eyelid could move away from the eye, even to such an extent that closing the eye became impossible. This is called ectropium. To prevent this, we fix the eyelash frame to the tight, tendinous fiber located in the outer corner of the eye. This is called canthopexia.
During the modern procedure, the incision line is the same, but the skin and the muscle plate under it are prepared together, in one layer again, up to the connective tissue plate that separates and holds back the eye fat tissue. Among other things, the weakening of this plate also plays a role in the bulging of the fat. In this case, however, we do not remove the fat.
Two solutions are possible after this. On the one hand, we can tighten the weakened plate and "push back" the excess, thereby eliminating the bulge. On the other hand, we can open this plate and spread out the excess fat, thus eliminating the "bags". After that, we remove the possible excess skin, and in almost all cases we perform the suspension of the eyelash frame (canthopexia).
Here, too, we close the wound with internally running sutures, close it with a sterile strip, which we replace two days later, leaving it at the entry and exit points of the thread. Icing after the surgery is also recommended. Suture removal is due one week after the surgery. In this case, however, it is a much larger intervention than in the case of upper or traditional lower eyelid surgery. Local anesthesia is not enough, so this eyelid surgery is performed under general anesthesia, and the surgery lasts 1-1.5 hours. In this case, in some cases, it can take up to 2-3 months until the final result is achieved.
Healing time for lower and upper eyelid surgery:
It is important to be aware that there are thin, loose tissues around the eye, so bleeding and edema may develop after the surgery, and the eye may swell. Another characteristic is that bloody discharge may also leak for the first two days. The tense, itchy feeling is still completely normal, another after-effect is that it is more difficult for the patient to open and close their eyes in the morning. The symptoms can be reduced with little, short-term, but regular, careful icing. Wearing sunglasses is advisable for a few days, as even minor sunshine becomes irritating to the eyes during this period.
While it takes about 10 days for the symptoms to subside in the case of upper eyelid plasty, in the case of the lower ones, this period is noticeable after several days, it takes more like 2-3 weeks. Final healing after the correction is about 6 months. Suture removal is due a few days after the procedures, but the doctor provides all necessary information in detail.
In the case of lower eyelid plasty prices and upper eyelid plasty prices, a decisive factor is the extent of the intervention required, as well as which treatment is necessary to achieve the desired result. But from this point of view, it does not matter whether the surgery should be performed under local anesthesia or general anesthesia. After all, while one can be done with locally applied anesthesia, the other is definitely done under general anesthesia. For exact prices, please contact us with confidence!
