As you age, your face begins to exhibit the signs of aging, and this affects more than just your general appearance; it also affects your eyes. If you’ve used non-invasive treatments and techniques to improve the appearance of your eye area but haven’t achieved the kind of results you’re hoping for, we want to introduce you to a procedure that will. At Keller Plastic Surgery in Santa, Barbara, CA, we offer blepharoplasty to restore youth to your eye area.
What Is the Right Age To Schedule Blepharoplasty?
Most patients who choose to schedule blepharoplasty to improve their vision, appearance, or both are over the age of 40. However, just because this is the most common age at which patients schedule this procedure doesn’t mean that age is the sole determining factor regarding whether you make a good candidate for this procedure.
Sometimes genetics, premature aging, and your facial structure can cause your eyes to age or droop earlier than your forties, leading to decreased confidence in your appearance.
Determining if Eyelid Surgery Is Right for You
Regardless of your age, if you are unhappy with the way your eyes look because of skin laxity and drooping eyelids, or other aesthetic concerns, we can create the right treatment plan for you that will help you achieve a younger, well-rested looking appearance, whether you are in your thirties, forties, or beyond.
An initial consultation is the best way to determine if this procedure is right for you. During the consultation, we’ll review your eyes, your concerns, and your health history to determine if you are a good candidate for the procedure.
What Is Blepharoplasty?
Blepharoplasty is a surgical cosmetic procedure designed to improve the appearance of the eyes. It is also known as eyelid surgery and provides men and women with the ability to restore a youthful appearance to the upper and lower eyelids and entire eye area. Not only can it address cosmetic concerns, but it can also improve the vision in those whose skin has begun to impede their vision.
We can also completely customize this procedure to the needs of the patient because not everyone has the same concerns when it comes to the appearance of their eyelids. Some patients want to address their upper eyelids, others want to address their lower eyelids, and some want to address multiple areas around their eyes.
What Does It Treat?
This procedure can treat some of the most obvious signs of aging that affect the eye area. Since this procedure is completely customizable, it can address aging eyes and all of the signs of aging that affect both the upper and lower eyelids. Some of the most common signs of aging that affect the eyes include loose skin, excess fat deposits, eye bags, droopiness, and sagging eyelids.
This procedure can address all of these concerns, tighten the skin in the area, remove excess skin, eliminate eye bags, reposition fat pads, and balance the eyes to restore a youthful appearance.
Understanding the Procedure’s Limitations
This procedure does have some limitations in that it cannot treat crow’s feet or wrinkles that form around the outer corners of the eyes. However, we can customize your procedure to address both your upper and lower eyelids as well as crow’s feet and eye wrinkles using other treatments and methods.
Additionally, if you have dark circles beneath your eyes, depending on their ultimate cause, this procedure may address them if they are related to skin folds or skin issues. If the dark circles have resulted from other factors like hyperpigmentation, we can also use non-surgical techniques to correct those circles.
What Causes Aging Around the Eyes?
Different factors can lead to the signs of aging around the eyes, the most common being the aging process. However, genetics, lifestyle factors, sun exposure, facial structure, and aging can all lead to dark circles around the eyes, changes in the distribution of fat, excess skin and tissues, and drooping skin.
If you’ve been unsuccessful in trying to use non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques and treatments to address the way aging has affected your eyes, you may be a good candidate for blepharoplasty, a procedure that will ultimately transform your eye area, restore your youthful eyes and help you feel more like your younger self again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Is Eyelid Surgery Right for?
This procedure is a good option for men and women who cannot improve the appearance of their eye area with non-invasive treatments. If the signs of aging have affected your eyes to the point that you feel less confident in your appearance or your vision has been impeded, you may be a good candidate for blepharoplasty. Patients should be in good health, free of any medical conditions that could interfere with the results of the procedure.
Additionally, the patient should not be a smoker and should be willing to follow the instructions post-op to achieve the best results. It’s also important that you have realistic expectations regarding this procedure and what it can and cannot do. This procedure is not designed to make you look like an entirely different person but instead to restore the natural appearance of your eye area as it looked before aging began to affect it.
What Happens During the Procedure?
Each blepharoplasty procedure is a little different since we customize each procedure to the needs of the patient. Some patients choose to address their entire eye area and add other procedures like a brow lift to the surgery. Others simply want to address one specific area, such as the upper or lower eyelids. Regardless of what you choose to address, you’ll be given general anesthesia, and then the surgeon will make very small incisions in the target area.
Then, he will remove any excess skin, muscle, and tissue around the upper or lower eyelids or both. The entire eye area will then be tightened and sutured, and the procedure will be complete.
What Kind of Results Can I Expect?
After undergoing this procedure, you can expect your eyes to make you look years younger. If loose skin around your upper eyelids has impaired your vision, you will notice improved vision after your procedure is over. This procedure can address many of the aesthetic concerns with your upper and lower eyelids and the surrounding areas. Expect to look like an improved, younger, and well-rested version of yourself.
Additionally, those who undergo this procedure can expect to enjoy the results for up to 10 years based on the rate at which their body continues to age and their lifestyle choices. There are some ways that you can maintain your results long-term, such as living a healthy lifestyle, eating a healthy diet, avoiding smoking, wearing sunglasses, using sunscreen around your eye area, and developing a skincare routine specifically formulated for the area around your eyes.
How Long Is the Recovery Period?
This procedure does involve a recovery period, but the length of that recovery will vary based on the extent of your procedure. Expect to spend a week resting and recovering, and when that one-week mark has passed, we will remove your stitches. Most patients can resume most of their normal daily activities after two weeks of rest. You’ll be provided with directives regarding how to care for your eye area during your recovery. During your recovery, you should:
- Avoid strenuous activities
- Wear sunscreen and sunglasses to protect your eyes
- Follow the aftercare instructions
- Rest as much as possible
- Eat healthy meals
- Enlist someone to help you during the first few days
- Wait two weeks before wearing contacts
If at any point you have any questions or concerns during your recovery, you can simply contact our office and speak to one of our surgical team members, who will do everything possible to address your concerns. As long as you follow the aftercare directives, stay hydrated, eat a healthy diet, and rest, you can expect a quick recovery.
Renew Your Eye Area With Eyelid Surgery
You don’t have to live with the signs of aging, especially when they begin to affect your eyes, the window of the soul. If you have excess skin that’s impeding your vision, making you feel older than you are and self-conscious about your appearance, we can change that with blepharoplasty. Contact us today at Keller Plastic Surgery in Santa Barbara, CA, to learn more about this procedure and find out if it can benefit you.
