Open Your Eyes with an Eyelid Lift

Do friends, family or co-workers frequently say you look tired, even when you’re getting your nightly ZZZs? Do you have bags or puffiness under your eyes? Do you have drooping and/or wrinkling of your upper lids that make you look older than you feel? If any of these describe you, you’ll be happy to know that an eyelid lift is a fast, simple procedure with a short recovery time that can literally take years off your appearance.

An eyelid lift, technically called blepharoplasty, is a fairly straightforward cosmetic surgery procedure performed here in my Dayton cosmetic surgery practice. Men and women have discovered that this simple little procedure took years from their appearance. What’s that saying? “The eyes are the windows to the soul”? This old maxim really means that, by looking into someone’s eyes, we can identify their mood. Unfortunately, if your upper eyelids droop and you have bags under your lower lashes, you can appear to be sad or tired, even if you aren’t either!

What is an Eyelid Lift?
An eyelid lift/blepharoplasty is an outpatient cosmetic surgery procedure that eliminates bags and excess skin in the eyelids that are caused by normal aging, as well as premature aging due to lifestyle choices such as smoking, alcohol, certain medications & drugs, and too much sun exposure. Genetics play a role, too. Some people have drooping eyelids at a young age simply because it’s in their DNA (you can thank your parents for that).

Who is a Good Candidate for an Eyelift?
Healthy adult men and women with aging in the eyelids are usually excellent candidates. It’s a quick procedure that can be done under local anesthesia and sedation, making it a great procedure for people that either want to avoid general anesthesia or have health issues that make general anesthesia more risky for them. An eyelid lift can be added to another procedure too, such as a facelift (which otherwise doesn’t include an eyelid lift).

Does Insurance Cover an Eyelid Lift or Blepharoplasty?
Health insurance doesn’t cover a cosmetic surgery procedure unless it can be proven to the insurance company that the proposed surgery will solve a problem that negatively affects the patient’s health. A common example is a nose job after breaking the nose compared with a nose job for cosmetic reasons. Everyone knows someone whose insurance paid for their friend’s blepharoplasty, however, so let me tell you the one instance in which insurance might cover an eyelid lift. If it can be proven that your drooping upper lids are affecting your vision—and this is done via a specific test performed by an eye doctor—then your insurance might cover an upper eyelid lift. I don’t know of any health insurance that will cover a lower eyelid lift.

How is an Eyelift Performed?
An eyelift can be done on the upper lids, beneath the eyes, or both. For those patients with good skin quality in the upper lids and solely bags beneath the eyes, I can do just a lower eyelid lift. This involves hidden sutures in the lash line of the lower lid. Excess tissue is removed (bags) and the skin is tightened and closed with very tiny sutures. For those with upper lid sagging and wrinkling, an upper eyelid lift is the trick. The incision is made in the crease of the upper lid—after healing you’ll have to work hard to even find that scar! As with the lower lid, excess skin is removed and tiny sutures are put in place. For patients with concerns about both upper and lower lids, both are treated at the same time.

What’s Recovery Like After a Blepharoplasty Eyelid Lift?
Recovery from an eyelid lift or blepharoplasty here at my Dayton cosmetic surgery practice is generally rapid and uncomplicated. You’ll have well-hidden sutures that may feel a little tight at first but applying ice packs (bags of tiny frozen peas are perfect) for 15 minutes every hour will keep swelling down, as will sleeping upright in a sofa or recliner for the first few nights. You won’t want to wear contacts the first week or apply eye makeup, and you may find your eyes are a bit sensitive to bright outdoor light, so wear your sunglasses when you go out. Any non-dissolving sutures are removed in my office within a few days. Most of my patients need nothing more than some Tylenol for discomfort—if that—and are often surprised by how little discomfort they actually experience. In no time, you’ll be looking in the mirror at the New You and wondering why you didn’t do this sooner!

If you have concerns about aging in the eye area, call me for a consultation. You’ll leave with a full understanding of your options as well as pricing. For those interested in budgeting your beauty over time with convenient monthly payments, click this link.