Eyelid Lift Part 4- Techiniques

Author: Jonathan Pontell, MD

Medically Reviewed On: November 17, 2009

Blepharoplasty Techniques

There are a number of different techniques in blepharoplasty.

The upper eyelid
The standard approach to the upper eyelid is through an incision in the eyelid crease, which camouflages very well after surgery. Through this incision, excess upper eyelid skin, muscle and fat are removed to give a tighter, smoother upper eyelid.

The lower eyelid
The lower eyelid can be approached through an external incision immediately under the lashes or through an internal incision inside the lower eyelid, which is called the transconjunctival approach. The external incision allows the surgeon to remove excess skin and muscle as well as excess fat. The incision inside the lower lid is useful when the only problem is excess fatty tissue-not excess skin or muscle. An upper and lower blepharoplasty takes about two hours.

The browlift
If a browlift is done at the time of an eyelid lift prodedure, the browlift is done first. Doing the browlift first allows the surgeon to remove the correct amount of upper eyelid skin, as raising the brows decreases the amount of upper eyelid skin

The browlift requires a few small incisions hidden in the scalp hair. The surgery is performed with very specialized instruments and a tiny video camera, called an endoscope, which allows the surgeon to watch the procedure on a video screen. In addition to raising the brows, the browlift gets rid of the deep vertical creases between the brows and the horizontal creases across the forehead.

Once the browlift is completed, excess skin, muscle and or fat are removed from the upper and lower lids to give a smooth eyelid contour.

Some visual examples of blepharoplasty, before and after surgery: