What Is Blepharoplasty?
Blepharoplasty is the surgery that removes excess skin and fatty pouches from the upper and lower eyelids. It’s one of the most requested procedures in oculoplastics because it rejuvenates your look naturally, giving back a fresh, rested appearance to an area that shows age before the rest of the face does.
Even though it’s usually thought of as cosmetic, upper eyelid blepharoplasty also has a functional side: when the excess skin is significant, it can rest on the eyelashes and narrow your field of vision, forcing you to raise your eyebrows just to see.
Cosmetic and Functional
- Cosmetic: rejuvenates your look and removes the bags and folds that make you appear tired or sad
- Functional: when excess skin on the upper eyelid narrows your field of vision, the surgery restores it
This dual nature is exactly why it pays to have the surgery done by a fellowship-trained oculoplastics ophthalmologist, someone who protects your eye’s function while still achieving the cosmetic result you want.
Who Is a Candidate?
- People with under-eye bags that create a tired look
- Excess skin on the upper eyelid, whether or not it affects your vision
- A fold of skin resting on the eyelashes
- An aged or sad-looking gaze caused by sagging eyelids
Your evaluation will also distinguish blepharoplasty from ptosis, which is eyelid droop caused by a weak muscle (not excess skin) and is corrected differently. The two are sometimes combined in the same surgery.
The Procedure, Step by Step
- Evaluation and marking: we precisely plan how much skin and fat to remove while preserving your natural expression.
- Anesthesia: local anesthesia with sedation, on an outpatient basis.
- Hidden incisions: along the natural crease of the upper eyelid, and for the lower eyelid, either inside the lid or just below the lashes.
- Removal of excess skin and fatty pouches, with meticulous precision.
- Closure with fine sutures and application of cold compresses.
The procedure takes 45 to 90 minutes, depending on whether one or both eyelids are treated.
Recovery
- Days 1-7: swelling and bruising, managed with cold compresses and resting with your head elevated. Stitches come out between days 5 and 7.
- Weeks 2-4: bruising fades and you can get back to your social life.
- Months: the final cosmetic result becomes visible as the residual swelling goes down and the scar matures.
We recommend avoiding strenuous activity, makeup, and direct sun exposure on the scars for the first few weeks.
Why Choose Centro Láser for Blepharoplasty
At Centro Láser, blepharoplasty is performed by our oculoplastics team, who protect your eye’s health (lubrication, eyelid closure, ocular surface) while still achieving a natural result. When your case is functional, we document the impact on your field of vision to help manage insurance coverage. And when there’s also eyelid droop, we combine blepharoplasty with ptosis surgery in a single treatment plan.
