mini eyelid surgery

When people think of plastic surgery that helps a person look younger, they think of facelifts. As beneficial as facelifts and mini facelifts like my Band Aid Mini Facelift can be, those surgeries are designed to address specific signs of aging like sagging skin throughout the mid-face and lower face. There are a variety of other surgeries designed to address other signs of aging, and one particularly common facial rejuvenation procedure is eyelid surgery.

Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, is a procedure that you’ll rarely hear about in movies and TV shows, but it’s one of the most effective surgeries to address facial aging. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon, one of my passions is educating prospective patients about their cosmetic options. In that interest, I’m spreading the word about eyelid surgery with four top facts most people don’t know about the procedure.

There Are Multiple Types of Eyelid Surgery

There are two key types of eyelid surgery: upper eyelid surgery, or upper blepharoplasty, and lower eyelid surgery, or lower blepharoplasty. Upper eyelid surgery removes excess sagging skin from your upper eyelids – sagging skin that gives the eyes a “hooded” or more closed appearance. Lower eyelid surgery, on the other hand, addresses sagging skin and “bags under the eyes” by treating the lower eyelids. Depending on the way your aging has progressed, a lower blepharoplasty can involve removing sagging skin from the lower eyelid, removing pads of fat that are protruding, or both.

Keep in mind that while there are two key types of eyelid surgery, there are a variety of techniques surgeons use for each of these surgeries. It’s also important to note that you can have both an upper eyelid surgery and a lower eyelid surgery because they address different cosmetic concerns. In fact, many patients can have these two procedures within the same surgery.

More People Have Had Eyelid Surgery Than You Realize

While many people haven’t heard of eyelid surgery, sometimes called an eyelid lift, it is an extremely popular procedure. In fact, according to The Aesthetic Society, blepharoplasty was the second most popular plastic surgery in the US in 2020, with over 325,000 procedures performed nationwide.

Eyelid Surgery Can Be Minimally Invasive

The idea of surgery and general anesthesia is intimidating to many people, and general anesthesia does lengthen the recovery time for surgery. Fortunately, most people who are candidates for eyelid surgery are also candidates for my minimally invasive version called Band Aid Eyelid Surgery. During this procedure, I use gentle numbing and minimally invasive techniques to perform the surgery in my medical office. While Band Aid Eyelid Surgery results are highly effective, they allow you to recover in about half the time compared to traditional blepharoplasty.

You Can Have Eyelid Surgery with Little or No Visible Scarring

One question every patient asks about cosmetic surgery is how much scarring they’ll have and how visible it will be. This is one of the unique advantages of eyelid surgery and Band Aid Eyelid Surgery: the procedure leaves little or no visible scarring.

During upper eyelid surgery, I make the incision discreetly within the natural folds of your upper eyelid. For lower eyelid surgery, in many cases, I can use incisions inside the lower eyelid so that they aren’t visible at all. If your surgery does require a visible incision, it will be hidden within your lower lash line.

If you have become frustrated with sagging skin above your eyes or bags under your eyes, Band Aid Eyelid Surgery is the ideal way to address these issues and achieve a more youthful, rested look with minimal recovery time. To find out if this procedure is an option for you, schedule an eyelid surgery consultation with me, Dr. John LeRoy, at my Atlanta office. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more plastic surgery facts, tips, and insights.