Blepharoplasty is the medical term used to remove the excess skin and the fat that is pushing out the skin, in both the upper and lower eyelids. The term blepharoplasty can also apply to the creation of an upper eyelid fold, more popularly done in Asian or Oriental patients. For the more senior set of patients, the sides of the upper eyelids may cause them to experience a “blind spot” of their peripheral vision; in which case, a combination of a brow lift and upper eyelid blepharoplasty is best suited. Sometimes, if there is too much skin that folds down from the upper eyelids, it may cause the eyelash to go into the eye, in a condition called entropion. In all these conditions, relief is found in an upper eyelid blepharoplasty.
In the lower eyelid, the extra bulge just below the eyelashes is more likely due to the hypertrophy of the muscle and not because of fat. However, if you find the bulge to be about a half centimeter or a centimeter below the eyelashes, the bulge is more likely due to the fat that is pushing out the skin. The drooping of the upper eyelids together with the bulging of the skin and fat at the lower eyelids give an individual the “tired look” and “adds age” to the patient’s facial features. Removal of these excess fat and skin, both in the upper and lower eyelids gives the individual a more “refreshed” look of the face
There are patients who, because of the chronic presence of bulging of fat on the lower eyelids has caused some weakness of the canthal ligaments; which hold the margin of the lower eyelids close to the eye. In these group of patients, an additional procedure called canthopexy prevents the white of the eye from being overexposed.
