Upper Blepharoplasty Procedure

For upper blepharoplasty technique, an outline is made across excess skin on the upper eyelids using a marking pen. This amount of excess skin is removed from the eyelids. Initial incision made about 7-10mm above the eyelashes along the normal eyelid creases. Incision made across entire eyelid and slightly outward and upward in the lateral canthus. The second incision depends upon the amount of skin on eyelids that need to be removed. It is made just above the first incision. Orbicularis muscles can be tiny strip trimmed in blepharoplasty surgery depending upon its thickness.
After incision, the orbital septum opened and showing the fat pockets overlying the eyelid opening muscles (levator aponeurosis). The fat pockets are inspected. First fat pocket is trimmed using the process of dissection, excision, cauterization and clamping. After that nasal fat pockets inspected and trimmed. For Nasal fat pockets slightly deeper dissection is done. In this same fashion, excess skin and fat removed from the upper eyelids. Usually fat removal is avoided in upper blepharoplasty surgery. It gives a hollow look on eyelids and can remain for a long time.
Now skin edges of eyelids are closed by sutures. The eyelids reform and reposition with deepen the eyelid creases.

Upper Blepharoplasty Surgery

Upper Blepharoplasty is also known as upper eyelid lift and cosmetic eyelid surgery. The upper blepharoplasty can be require when upper eyelids becomes baggy and eyelashes start dropping. Primary goal of surgery is to remove excess fat and skin from upper eyelids. By removing orbicularis muscle from upper eyelids you can restore a more youthful appearance. The secondary goal of upper blepharoplasty surgery is to uplift the dropping eyelashes due to excess fat. Dropping of eyelashes can weaken eyesight vision. This surgery includes restoration of eyelid crease and increase in eyesight vision.
There is no special anesthesia for upper blepharoplasty. It can be performed under local anesthesia. The anesthesia used may be oral sedation which can last for a few hours without any side effect.

Insurance Coverage for Blepharoplasty

Generally blepharoplasty is taken as a cosmetic eyelid surgery, which is done to improve your appearance. No insurance company going to pay for such reasons. Cosmetic surgery is excluded from insurance coverage. Some patients complain to their surgeons for excess baggy eyelids that interfere with their eyesight. Heavy baggy eyelids make them feel tired. In such cases, medical insurance company happy to pay for their blepharoplasty surgeon fees. Medical insurance company gives a vague provision of your insurance policy. They stated the significant changes in the eyesight vision or health of your eyes will be considered. These changes generally occur at an age of eighty. There is no advance advantage for this because if you are eighty years old and your baggy eyelids interfering with your eyesight, the blepharoplasty has more limitation to consider. Insurance company covers a minimum amount for the surgery which is functional blepharoplasty related to treatment of your eyesight vision. Functional blepharoplasty differ with the complete eyelid blepharoplasty.

Blepharoplasty Operating Room

Blepharoplasty is a very tedious and delicate operation. The operating room for blepharoplasty should be well equipped with all the required surgical instruments and monitoring systems. Generally a good surgeon maintains all these facility for blepharoplasty, because it gives a comfort level to you and also to your surgeon. surgical systems for monitoring blood pressure and pulse rate required throughtout whole blepharoplasty.The surgery can be performed under normal anesthesia and moderate oral sedation. Some blepharoplasty surgeon prefer deep intravenous sleep or inhalation anesthesia. This include high risk of drug side-effects and anesthesia recovery can take long time.

How Do I Select Blepharoplasty Surgeon?

The best criteria for selecting a blepharoplasty surgeon is the experience that surgeon has. Performing blepharoplasty surgery three or four times a month between tummy tucks, is not an experience. If a surgeon perfoms blepharoplasty seven to eight times a week this is called experience. The surgeon you are going to select for the surgery should be more concern about blepharoplasty and this can only be judge by his experience. There are some other factors also:
1- The Blepharoplasty surgeon should have sterling reputation for good results of blepharoplasty among other doctors.Because it takes practice and years of hard work to maintain and earn reputation.
2- There are many online message boards where you can find informations about blepharoplasty surgeon- whatever good or bad- but it should be taken as a big grain.
3- The office location of blpharoplasty surgeon should be in consideration. A surgeon in Beverly Hills definitly better than a surgeon in Fresno.If you are visiting a surgeon at an exclusive place then that blepharoplasty surgeon should be equally skilled.
4- Blepharoplasty surgeon should be "University Affiliated" like a clinical professor.

Post Blepharoplasty Guidelines

After the blepharoplasty surgery, bandages are used to lubricate and cover the scar. Oral medication is used to heal pain. Sometimes antibiotics are also prescribed to get rid of infection. Also care needs to be taken in cleaning eyes, during makeup, when watching television and contact lenses should not be used at all for some time. Alcohol intake should also be reduced for some reasons.

Blepharoplasty Cost

Estimating the exact Blepharoplasty cost for surgery is quite difficult as it may be performed to reduce fatty tissue, skin, and muscle, and the extent of the blepharoplasty surgery can vary. Also the blepharoplasty cost varies from person to person. The costs that come in picture are anesthesia fees, surgeon's fees and hospital fees.
The basic cost for upper or lower blepharoplasty is about $3,500 to $4,000. This cost includes blepharoplasty procedure and other facility fees. Blepharoplasty cost gets increase up to 50% more in case of all four upper and lower eyelids at the same time. Total surgery fees for regular Blepharoplasty procedure can range from $2,000 to $5,000 or more. Blepharoplasty cost can increase, in case of some addition in surgery like brow lift, chemical peel and canthopexy.

Word of Caution

Complications can arise during blepharoplasty procedure due to some factors which are preexisting dry eyes, loosness of the lower lid margin and loosness of the lower lid margin. Temporary complications may include temporary swelling at the corner of the eyelids; and a slight asymmetry in healing or scarring. Tiny whiteheads may appear after stitches are taken out.
A few medical conditions make blepharoplasty procedure more risky. These conditions include thyroid problems such as hypothyroidism and Graves' disease, dry eye or lack of sufficient tears, high blood pressure or other circulatory disorders, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. A detached retina or glaucoma is also considered a risky situation.

Process of Blepharoplasty

Blepharoplasty procedure involves external incisions, under local anesthesia, after the surgeon has marked the individual lines and creases of the lids in order to keep the scars as invisible as possible along these natural folds, carried into the eyelid skin, such as the creases of the upper lids and below the lashes of the lower lids, or from the inside surface of the lower eyelid. Sometimes swelling and bruising takes place but it takes not more than one to two weeks to get rid of it. Most people feel ready to go out in public (and back to work) in a week to 10 days. The final results of Blepharoplasty procedure are visible in few months time. The duration of the procedure is one to three hours but it entirely depends upon the scope of the procedure.

Scope of Blepharoplasty

Blepharoplasty procedure carried out for Lower eyelid is almost always carried out for cosmetic reasons. This can correct drooping upper lids and puffy bags below ones eyes. These features are ones that make people look older and more tired than they actually are and may even interfere with vision. However, Blepharoplasty procedure won't remove crow's feet or other wrinkles, eliminate dark circles under your eyes, or lift sagging eyebrows. Also evidence of your ethnic or racial heritage cannot be erased by this procedure.

Purpose of Blepharoplasty

Blepharoplasty surgery for many, is the procedure for looking younger and more alert. For others, it is a welcome option for restoring vision that has become obscured.
In simpler words, it is a functional or cosmetic surgical procedure aiming to reshape the upper or lower eyelid by the removal and/or repositioning of excess tissue as well as by reinforcement of surrounding muscles and tendons. Sometimes, in case excessive skin in there, the skin may hang over the eyelashes and cause of loss of peripheral vision causing difficulty in activities such as driving or reading.

Curing After Blepharoplasty

Most of the patients undergoing blepharoplasty surgery have mild aching or burning that is normally controlled with Tylenol and cold compresses.

• After blepharoplasty surgery swelling on eyes remain for next ten days. A small puffiness may persist for few months.
• Most of the patients feel moderate bruising that begins to fade with in few days after blepharoplasty and is gone by two weeks.
• Regular day-to-day activities of patient may be resumed within two days of blepharoplasty surgery. Arduous activities should be avoided for about two weeks.
• Most patients prefer rest for about ten days after blepharoplasty surgery. They start their normal work with in two weeks.

What should be suitable age for Blepharoplasty?

Most of the people undergo blepharoplasty just above the age of 35 years. The eyelid skin is the much thinner skin as compare to rest of the face. After the age of 35, eyelid skin starts loosing its elasticity and become wrinkled. Eyelids appear saggy and scars of depression visible over there. Age is not only the factor for saggy eyelids, some more reasons are there like swelling under lower eyelids Skin and excess fat packets in eye socket. In this situation a person can go for blepharoplasty.
Blepharoplasty surgery is less modest in scope, cost, risk and recovery time as compare to other sugery like face-lifting, neck lifting or forehead lifting. People may elect blepharoplasty before going for full facial treatment. Most of patients undergo blepharoplasty once in lifetime. Because rest of your face doesn't need any surgery for ten to twenty years after blepharoplasty. you have chance to enjoy the improvement by blepharoplasty during your relative youth and vigor.

Reasons Behind Baggy Eyelids

• In your forties or late thirties, elasticity of your extremely thin skin of eyelids start loosing and getting stretch. This causes wrinkles in the upper eyelids and become daped by overhang. Epidermis becomes in relative excess on the eyelids as the collagen in the dermis starts to lost and crow's feet and wrinkles appear on the eyelids. The underlying orbital fat unveils as the skin of eyelids thinning.
Blepharoplasty will be suitable for those who has droopy and baggy eyelids.
• Facial fat begins to imbued, making to volume loss. The resulting reduction not only emphasizes the appearance of baggy skin, but may be its primary cause.
• The orbicularis muscle stretches, thins out and becomes wrinkled, leading to sagging of the overlying skin of eyelids.
• The eyelid skin starts to thin and get stretched by the influence of the wear-and-tear of blinking, gravitational forces, excessive smoking and sun exposure.
• Deeper fat pockets in the eyelid socket become visible. these packets appear forward due to a weakening of an eyelid restraining layer known as the "orbital septum". Blepharoplasty can make your facial appearance better and enrich your self-confidence.
• The orbital fat packets inside the eyelid socket may absorb rather than bulge out and gives a hollowed appearance in both upper and lower eyelids.
• In later forties, the frontals muscle may baggy and lowering the brow, and the excess eyelid skin becomes more noticeable.
• The tissues of cheek and midface starts loosing their tone and lowers, making a small area of depression under the lower eyelids, emphasizing lower eyelid imperfections, and allowing the corners of the orbital rim to show through the skin.
• In some patients, a triangular fluid filed under the bone of lower corner of lower eyelids. this swelling becomes purplish and appears more on excess salt intake.
Blepharoplasty is a procedure that can make your eyes and aging face fresh.