Before and after bilateral upper and lower blepharoplasty in a 73-year-old woman. This patient presented with the complaint that her eyes looked much older than she felt - which was around forty! She had a moderate degree of excess upper and lower eyelid skin and was a candidate for a “pinch blepharoplasty”, which removed only enough excess skin that can be easily pinched using a surgical forceps.
Surgery was planned under local anesthesia in our outpatient operating room. She had several health issues that would have made surgery under general anesthesia more risky, so this was a perfect plan for her. She was given an oral anti-anxiety mediation and inhaled laughing gas to provide comfort during the local anesthesia administration (injections).
Excess skin was delicately excised from each upper eyelid through a lazy-S shaped incision. A subciliary incision (below the lower eyelash line) was used to remove a few millimeters of excess lower eyelid skin. Meticulous hemostasis (control of bleeding) was achieved using a pinpoint low-energy electrocautery device.
An extremely thin removable suture was woven under the upper and lower eyelid skin to perfectly oppose the skin edges, and the patient was discharged home the same day. She returned one week later for suture removal, and took a full month off exercise.
Follow up photos are shown 1 year after surgery, with a brighter, more awake appearance and a natural looking outcome. She loves her results, and that she still looks like herself, just more youthful!
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
