Poet E.E. Cummings once wrote, “The voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses.” It’s true. Your eyes are one of the first parts of your face that draws attention to you. What story are your eyes sharing about you with people?
If you’re concerned people are seeing sad, saggy, puffy or droopy skin on your upper eyelids or bags and dark circles under your eyes, treatments exist to tell help you tell a more beautiful story.
In a tale as old as time, as skin ages, it gradually loses its elasticity. The skin around your eyes is the thinnest and most delicate skin of your body, and therefore it’s most susceptible to stress and aging changes early. A lack of elasticity plus the constant pull from gravity causes excessive skin to collect on the upper and lower eyelids. Excess skin on the lower eyelid causes wrinkles and bulges. On the upper eyelids, an extra fold of skin can hang over the eyelashes and get in the way of seeing. The fat that cushions the eyeball from the skull can also cause bulges in the upper and lower eyelids.
This sounds like more of a horror story than the beautiful eye-opening love story it should be.
This next chapter is when Dr. Mark Hamilton, M.D., F.A.C.S., and his team can help with an eye lid surgery (also called an eye lift or blepharoplasty). Blepharoplasty is a plastic surgery procedure designed to tighten up the skin and muscle of the eyelids, reduce the fat excess, and restore a more youthful and refreshed appearance to the eye area. It is one of the most popular cosmetic surgery procedures performed today.
During the surgery, Dr. Hamilton removes excess skin, fat and muscle from the upper, and/or lower eyelids. This helps to improve drooping upper eyelids and puffy under eye bags. A lower blepharoplasty can help with dark circles by repositioning fat into areas of volume loss around the eyes. Eyelid surgery may also improve vision if excess upper eyelid skin is interfering with sight. Although an eye lift won’t eliminate crow’s feet or other facial wrinkles, it’s often done along with other procedures such as laser resurfacing, filler injections, or forehead lifts. All leaving you with a new, beautiful story to tell.
Like any good story, eyelid surgery takes between one and three hours to complete. You’ll be given local anesthesia and sedation or general anesthesia depending on your case.
After eyelid surgery, a bandage may be temporarily applied to the eyelids. You can expect some bruising and swelling, with most of the bruising fading within two to four weeks. Discomfort can also occur with a tight or sore sensation in the eyelids. Pain medication can be prescribed to help relieve these symptoms. Other side effects that may occur during the first week after surgery can include dry, itchy or burning sensations of the eyes, tearing, sensitivity to light and blurred or double vision. Stitches are generally removed on day seven. It will take about seven to 10 days before work and other normal activities can be resumed and about three weeks before resuming more strenuous activities.
Once the recovery is completed, you’ll see the difference in your younger-looking eyes and vibrant appearance.
You’ll be proud again to make eye contact with family, friends, colleagues, and those you’re simply passing on the street. But as entertainment star Groucho Marx said, “Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?”
Interested to learn more about eyelid surgery? See the results for yourself and call us in Indianapolis/Carmel at 317-614-0639 or in Greenwood at 317-210-4339.