Top 10 Blepharoplasty Facts to Know Before Going under the Knife

As you grow old, your skin and muscles also age with you. While most people tend to ignore the aging signs, it becomes more prominent when your facial skin form wrinkles, sag, or become droopy. The skin and muscle in both the eyelids suffer the most with the growing age. The skin folding order and the lower eyelid drooping due to excess fat accumulation becomes a norm.

Although the initial stage treatment of the droopy eyelids is possible with procedures like Botox and micro-needling, cosmetic eye surgery or blepharoplasty obtains the maximum result with more efficiency.

Get away with your apprehensions

No doubt, blepharoplasty is one of the most common cosmetic surgeries worldwide. Still, people often opt out of it at the last moment owing to several apprehensions and perceptive thoughts. To avert all such confusions, interacting with an expert cosmetic surgeon face-to-face would be advisable. He is indeed the best person to help you get away with all your fears and confusions regarding blepharoplasty.  

It is good to be prepared before meeting your surgeon, and ask him the right questions. Here we have presented the ten most crucial facts that you should know about this important eyelid surgery. You can enquire about these facts with your plastic surgeon in detail for better clarification and becoming familiar with the reality of the process. Let’s know about these facts in detail right here.

1. Reasons that necessitate Blepharoplasty  

People opt for blepharoplasty due to six major reasons. If you too were observing any of these signs with your eyelids, an instant medical checkup from an expert eye surgeon would be advisable.

• Excess fat deposition or loose skin obscuring the natural crease in your upper eyelid
• The loose skin of your upper eyelid is hanging over the eyes and interfering with your line of vision
• Due to excess fat deposition, lower and upper eyelids have become puffy and usually remain tired most times
• Wrinkles and puffiness present in the lower eyelid, along with sagging skin
• The lower water line has dipped below and led to dark circles and eyebags
• The lower eyelids have dropped much below the average level, exposing excess of the cornea

Depending on the outcomes of the examination, the cosmetic surgeon would suggest you to undergo the right Blepharoplasty treatment accordingly. There can be primarily upper eyelid, lower eyelid surgery among several other procedures.

2. You can combine Blepharoplasty with other cosmetic surgeries

One of the major advantages of getting blepharoplasty surgery is that the surgeons can perform it in combination with other cosmetic surgeries with ease. Although the experts prescribe it as a standalone treatment, you can consult your surgeon to merge it with other treatments like micro needling, Botox, facial lift, lip surgery, and so on. This will reduce the overall treatment time and save you considerable money because you can opt for packages.

3. Blepharoplasty has several sub-categories

Surgeons usually segregate Blepharoplasty into further sub categories based on the surgery location. Here are the three prominent:  

Upper eyelid blepharoplasty

This treatment is suitable for patients whose upper eyelids have bulging fat or have sagging skin. It requires the surgeons to eliminate the excess skin and fat. Successful treatment can help to optimize the vision of the patient as well and you can even get insurance cover for this surgery.

Lower eyelid blepharoplasty

If you have generated bags or have sagging skin in your lower eyelid, your surgeon will recommend you to go for lower eyelid blepharoplasty. Unlike the upper eyelid surgery, this treatment is cosmetic and hence will have no insurance cover. It will however reposition your lower eyelids to give an enhanced and contoured appearance.

Other types

Besides these two main types, surgeons also perform eyelid lift, hidden incision for lower blepharoplasty, cosmetic eyelid surgery, functional eyelid surgery, etc.  

Choosing the ideal surgery

Since there are several types, you must choose efficiently according to the condition of your eyelids. For example, if the upper eyelid has sagged more than the lower one or if the drooping eyelid is obscuring your vision only, it is better to go for upper eyelid blepharoplasty.

Similarly, if the lower eyelid has become puffy, but your upper eyelid is intact, you can go for lower eyelid blepharoplasty. The best move would be to abide by the advice of your blepharoplasty surgeon.

4. Surgeons do not administer complete anesthesia during the treatment

Unlike any other cosmetic treatment involving invasive surgeries, professionals do not opt for complete anesthesia in blepharoplasty. Usually, they administer local anesthesia just to numb the area around your eyes. You will remain awake throughout the entire time but won't feel pain or any other feeling as the cosmetic surgeon works on the eyelids. In addition, local anesthesia also reduces the chances of excess pain and post-surgery risks because you will have your consciousness throughout the entire time.

5. After surgery, risks are low for blepharoplasty

One of the major benefits of getting blepharoplasty is the low number of risks associated with this cosmetic surgery. For instance, most doctors opt for a fine incision with a sharp surgical scalpel. This reduces the rate of invasiveness of the surgery, thereby lowering the overall treatment risks post-completion of the procedure.

Likewise, you won't have to worry about impaired vision, bloody eyes, or any damage to the retina or cornea. Owing to the low rate of post-surgical risks, blepharoplasty has become one of the most preferred eye surgeries for improving vision, restoring regular eye structure, and enhancing overall aesthetics.

6. Blepharoplasty results are long-lasting

The results of blepharoplasty can last longer and the surgery improves your appearance as well. The best thing is that unlike any other cosmetic treatment, you won't have to visit the clinic multiple times to get the procedure redone because your eyes won't droop or sag, at least for the coming months. You also don’t need to worry about the high treatment costs as this surgery involves comparably lesser charges.

7. Most clinics offer blepharoplasty at reasonable prices

People often think that cosmetic surgeries involve high treatment costs. While the statement is true for most treatment types, blepharoplasty surgery bets to differ. This is because most clinics offer the eyelid treatment procedure at a minimal rate, ensuring everyone can opt for the treatment process without any hesitation. Moreover, you don't have to visit the clinic for multiple sittings because you can undergo both the lower and the upper eyelid surgeries on the same day. Therefore, your overall savings will be higher, and you can get the droopy, puffy, and sagging eyelids fixed at an affordable rate.

8. The recovery period for blepharoplasty is short.

You don't have to wait for months to recover completely after undergoing the blepharoplasty procedure. Thanks to its shorter recovery time, you can return to your old lifestyle within two to three weeks. There won't be any absentee marks on your records in the office or missed university lectures when you have the finals a couple of months later. Nevertheless, following the aftercare precautions suggested by your surgeon would be advisable. It will help in speedy recovery and ensure long-lasting positive effects of the surgery.

9. Chances of scarring are almost minimal

The incision made during blepharoplasty is so small that you won't have to worry about scarring in the lower or upper eyelid. Therefore, while it will enhance your beauty, you won't have to use anti-scarring ointments or medicines.

10. Most medical insurances covered the costs of blepharoplasty

Blepharoplasty is not just a cosmetic surgery done to improve your facial aesthetics. In addition, it also restores your eyes’ health and removes the block from your vision due to sagging upper eyelid. Therefore, most medical insurance policies cover blepharoplasty surgery costs depending on whether you have undergone upper lid or lower lid eye surgery. As already stated, lower eyelid surgery falls under the category of cosmetic surgery and hence does not include insurance cover.  

Wrapping up

Now that you know more about blepharoplasty and the things that happen during the surgery, there is no point in feeling apprehensive in case you are about to undergo the treatment anytime soon. Just ensure to discuss everything about the process and the things that you should do before and after it with your plastic surgeon.

Here, it becomes all the more important to make the right selection of your blepharoplasty surgeon. While approaching the one, make sure to satisfy yourself with the qualification, authenticity and experience of the concerned surgeon. The expertise of the surgeon will matter a lot in ensuring a successful eyelid surgery.