Dermatochalasis and blepharoplasty

Dermatochalasis is an excess of eyelid skin, combined with reduced skin elasticity. The eyes look old, “baggy”, and wrinkled.

This condition is caused by the loss of the collagen fibers in the sheet of connective tissue supporting the eyelid internally. A part of the natural aging process, it may be accelerated by hereditary factors, stress, sleep disorders, skin diseases, or excessive exposure to the sun.

Signs

Upper eyelids: horizontal folds, sometimes combined with fat herniation, making the eyelids look heavy and saggy.

Lower eyelids: excessive skin which wrinkles horizontally, commonly associated with fat herniation or bags under the eyes known as “palpebral pockets”.

Treatment/Repair

Upper-eyelid blepharoplasty is an outpatient surgical procedure carried out under local anaesthetic. It consists of removing the extra skin from the upper eyelids. Excess fat, if present, is also removed during surgery. The surgeon makes a small incision which follows the natural folds of the eyelid, so that the scar is almost invisible.

In the days immediately following the procedure, there may be some swelling and bruising, but they usually disappear after one week.

Lower-eyelid blepharoplasty is an outpatient surgical procedure carried out under local anaesthetic.

Excess skin, if present, is removed when the surgeon makes a small incision under the lower eyelids, following the natural folds of the eyelid.

If excess fat is present, it is also removed during the surgery.

If “bags” of fat are weighing down the eyelid in the absence of excess skin, they are removed through a transconjunctival incision which leaves no visible scar.

In the days immediately following the procedure, there may be some swelling and bruising, but they usually disappear after one week.