Look more rested and youthful with eyelid surgery

Beautiful eyes are the first thing we notice in a face. However, eyes that are tired, with droopy, dark circles, and eye “bags” may not reflect a vibrant younger image. Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) is designed to trim excessive skin from the upper eyelids and improve upon dark circles and fat pads in the lower eyelids. The goal of eyelid surgery is for patients to appear more rested and youthful.

If you are concerned by the appearance of your eyes and want to look more rested and youthful, an eyelid surgery can help!

Are you tired of trying to conceal the visible signs of aging in your eye and are looking for a long-lasting, natural looking solution to refresh your face? Schedule a consultation with Dr. Donn Chatham at his premier facial plastic surgery center in New Albany, IN or Louisville, KY to discuss your facial rejuvenation goals.

Why Consider An Eyelid (Blepharoplasty) Lift?

Are your eyes showing signs of visible aging? Typically, as we age, the eyes are often the first area of the face to age. This is due to very thin skin around your eyes. The thin area of the skin breaks down faster and is more likely to show fine lines, wrinkles, and skin laxity. For people looking to restore a more youthful facial appearance and relaxed look, eyelid surgery can help. This is a popular cosmetic surgical procedure to improve the appearance of the eyelids.

Dr. Donn Chatham, Medical Director of Chatham Facial Surgery, uses the “picture frame” analogy to describe the goal of an eyelid rejuvenation procedure. The beautiful part of the eye is the eye itself, particularly the iris. This is the colored round part of the eye, and it can be brown, blue, or green…many color variations. This is what we see when we look into another person’s eyes. This is the “picture.” Everything around this “picture” is like a picture frame. The upper lids, the brows, and the lower lids all frame the pretty picture. When we are young, the open soft smooth frame compliments and accentuates the picture, and it is a thing of beauty!

You can rejuvenate your eyes to their more youthful state with expert eyelid (blepharoplasty) surgery. Dr. Donn Chatham will thoroughly explain how he performs eyelid surgery and what results you can expect.

What Are The Visible Signs Of Upper And Lower Eyelid Aging?

As we age, Dr. Donn Chatham explains how the eyelid “frame” changes. Some of the changes to the “frame” may include:

• Lowered brows, crowding the upper lids
• Stretched and droopy upper lids
• Wrinkled crepey lower lid skin
• Fat pockets that have pooched out to create “bags”
• Crow’s feet wrinkles in the corner of the eyes

With these frame changes, the frame begins to dominate the eyes. No longer is the pretty picture (iris) the center of attention. Instead, it is dominated by the aging tissues that surround it. Fortunately, cosmetic eyelid surgery can improve this aging process, and restore the “picture” with an aesthetic eyelid lift rejuvenation surgery for both upper and/or lower lids.

Whether the reason for the undesirable changes is excess skin of the upper lids, or the fatty pockets of the lower lids or wrinkles in both areas, Dr. Chatham will customize your cosmetic facial enhancement surgery to your individual needs and goals.

How Is Upper And Lower Eyelid Surgery Performed?

Dr. Donn Chatham, double board-certified facial plastic surgeon, can perform an eyelid lift surgery alone or it can be or together with facelift / neck lift or brow / forehead lift. If done alone, the operation takes about two hours for all four eyelids (both upper and both lower eyelids).

Blepharoplasty of the upper eyelids alone typically takes about 45 minutes and is most often performed under local anesthesia only as an in-office procedure.

The lower lid surgery is more delicate, and Dr. Chatham believes it is safer and more effectively performed using an IV sedation or deeper anesthesia. It is easier for the patient to remain completely still if sedate, and is more comfortable, too. The patient remains asleep during this approximate 1-hour and 15-minute procedure. This surgery is typically performed in an accredited facility. This may be performed either with an incision in the skin just below the lids or by going behind the lids through the “back door” and leaving no visible incisional scar.

Lower lids, with a “fatigued eye” appearance, are typically the result of the eyelid fat migrating. This fat, held in position by the orbital septum, sags over time. This wall holds the fat firmly back in your youth, but as we, age can bulge, giving you “baggy” upper and lower eyelids. Blepharoplasty trims this extra fat and tightens the wall, restoring a youthful contour. Sometimes Dr. Chatham will sometimes reposition fat into some of the hollows beneath the fat in order to create a smoother skin surface. These hollows may include the “tear trough” which commonly deepens with aging.

When hollows such as the tear trough and possibly other depressions creating “shadows” are present, Dr. Chatham might recommend the use of dermal fillers, such as the advanced Restylane^® family of products to help restore volume under the skin and mid-face contours. This does not replace surgery, rather in some patients can complement it.

For patients who have wrinkles and crepey skin under the eyes, Dr. Chatham may recommend a deeper chemical peel to stimulate the formation of new skin, which can be smoother, lighter, and tighter once healed. Sometimes the chemical peel may be performed at the same sitting as another surgery.

During your consultation, Dr. Chatham will customize your recommended eyelid surgery to your individual rejuvenation goals and thoroughly discuss the surgical process.

What Is The Eyelid Surgery Recovery Process?

All surgeries create a bit of swelling and possibly bruising that peaks at about day 3. Minimal blurry vision quickly resolves. We recommend patients take about a week free from obligations. Being free from physical and emotional stress helps reduce swelling and promotes faster healing. Eyes will tire more readily the first week or so, and reading and computer screen time may need to be limited. Sunglasses help camouflage swelling and bruising if absolutely necessary to leave one’s home. Make-up can be worn within about 1 week (if a peel has also been performed, it may require 10 days of time).

Normal (but not physical) activity can be resumed the next day and week-by-week more physical activities can be performed. Dr. Donn Chatham discourages strenuous exercise until about 3-4 weeks, and sometimes longer.

Why A Facial Plastic Surgeon?

Eyelid surgery requires specialized surgical expertise and should be performed by a facial plastic surgeon. Dr. Donn Chatham, Medical Director of Chatham Facial Surgery is a double board-certified surgeon.