Safe Professional Cosmetic Eyelid Surgery & Blepharoplasty in Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
What is a blepharoplasty?
Blepharoplasty, also commonly known as an 'eyelid lift', literally means ‘refashioning of the eyelid’ and is an operation to improve the appearance of the skin around the eye. Most blepharoplasties are performed to reverse the changes due to ageing, although some patients undergo different types of blepharoplasty surgery for other reasons e.g. asian blepharoplasty, thyroid blepharoplasty, congenital problems etc. Although there are many types of operations to improve the appearance of eyelids, in general, the vast majority of patients who seek 'cosmetic eyelid surgery' are usually enquiring about cosmetic blepharoplasty to reverse the signs of ageing. Contrary to popular belief, not all patients need to undergo surgery and indeed excellent results can be achieved without surgery at all.
How do the eyelids age?
As we all get older, changes in the structural of the tissues of the face begin to occur. For example, tendons become lax, muscles lose their tone, fat starts to shrink and skin loses its elasticity.
In the upper lids, excess skin develops leading to redundant droopy skin which can give a sharp ‘severe’ appearance to the lid. Women often complain that they no longer have an eyelid on to which they can apply eye makeup due to the overhanging skin. Patients remark that people comment on them looking angry, tired or frowning. Weakening of one of the middle layers of the eyelid allows for outward bulging of the fat of the eye socket leading to eyelid ‘bags’ known as steatoblepharon. Sometimes the fat behind the eyebrow may start to descend leading to changing contour of the eyelid. Age related stretching of the main tendon involved in the lifting of the upper lid results in a skin crease that is less defined and sometimes a drooping upper lid (ptosis).
In the lower lid, similar changes occur with age related stretching of the tendons of the eyelid. The lower lid instead of having a youthful sharp contour starts to develop increased downward bowing. The eyelid itself adopts a more concave contour with greater exposure of the lower half of eye. Weakening of the middle layer of the eyelid results outward bulging of orbital fat and the appearance of eyelid bags or 'festoons'. The skin loses its elasticity and the muscles weaken leading to excess skin and wrinkles. As the tissues start to descend and shrink around the junction between the lower eyelid and cheek, the tear 'trough or hollow' starts become increasingly obvious and often one of the first complaints is of both men and women is of deep shadows which form beneath their eyelid bags.
The upper face (forehead and brow) is in continuity with the eyes and midface. Ageing changes of the upper face and midface therefore have a bearing on the appearance of the eyes. Modern cosmetic surgery reflects this philosophy and many surgeons would advocate correcting one problem before moving on to the main problem. For example, the forehead and eyebrows may have descended due to ageing and this may lead to the appearance of excess skin of the eyelids. In this case, it may be preferable to correct the descended forehead first with a brow lift. This would lift up the eyebrows back to their normal position giving the appearance of the eyes being more open again. Any residual excess skin of the lids may then be treated with a blepharoplasty. For the best cosmetic result, it may be necessary to perform a simultaneous brow lifting as blepharoplasty surgery and this can be done through the same skin incision (transblepharoplasty brow lifting). Not all patients require surgery and indeed, many patients do very well with simple quick non surgical techniques e.g. tear trough rejuvenation with injectable fillers. Because there are so many possible treatments which offer different results, it is often best to consult a practitioner who can counsel you on a bespoke treatment plan customised for you.