Under Eye Loose Skin and Wrinkles Normal After Blepharoplasty?

I had upper and lower Blepharoplasty two weeks ago. The main reason was for bags, loose skin and wrinkles under my eyes. I was told that these could be corrected by removing some fat and tightening up the loose skin.

While it looks like some of the puffiness is gone, I am very concerned about remaining loose skin and wrinkles under my eyes. I am feeling very upset and disappointed at my result. I don't feel like the skin under my eyes was tightened up and deep wrinkles are still present. Is this a normal outcome and is it acceptable? It does not seem acceptable to me. Thanks.

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10 Doctor Answers | Asked by Jill in NY in USA

Doctor Answers (10)
Community Comments (0)

Loose skin two weeks after blepharoplasty can be normal

First, wait until the surgery has fully healed. Especially with fat repositioning surgery of the lower lids, skin can look excessive because it has not retracted yet. When you fully heal - I"m talking 6 months here - you could always consider some form of skin tightening, like fractionated CO2 laser, to smooth out your skin. As a surgeon, we never want to overly remove skin of the lower lids, as this can cause major problems with lower lid retraction. So, don't insist on your surgeon... more

Lisa B. Cassileth, MD

3 reviews

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

Give it a couple months

Although you should see an immediate improv ement, some deep wrinkles may not go away with blepharoplasty.. If too much skin is removed you could have complications with ectropion, (pulling down on the lower lids). The good knews is that, after things have healed, the deeper wrinkles and loose skin can be improved with laser skin resurfacing. Talk with your Doctor about options and give things some time to heal.

Undereye loose skin and wrinles after blepharoplasty normal?

After only 2 weeks you should not be so concerned. Nontheless, if these persist after 6 months or so an appropriate additional treatment for exfoliating the skin can be performed. It will be important to assess your eyelid tone first. The surgeon will perform a "snap" and a "distraction" test and also look at the current eyelid position to ensure there is no scleral show or retraction. Then a form of chemical peel or a conservative laser peel will further improve... more

Surgery is for sags and bags only

There are some great things about blepharoplasty. It can improve sags and bags and reduce the excess skin, but it cannot remove wrinkles or re-inflate the groove between the edge of the (very thin) lower eyelid skin as it transitions into thicker upper cheek skin. It is way too early to be concerned. Most of the swelling usually disappears in a few weeks, but it will take up to a year for the remaining minimal swelling to finally go away. The incision lines will become pink and firm for a... more

Give it Time

Two weeks is definitely too soon to be talking about revision but I understand your frustration. Removal of skin from the lower lids a tricky and requires other procedures to be done at the same time such as a canthoplasty and cheek support. You mention deep wrinkles. If the wrinkles are low on the eyelid, ie at the orbital rim. then removal of a small amount of skin from the superior part of the eyelid will not help. This area can only really be helped by a midface lift or standard... more

Your concerns should be tempered with patience

There are many ways to improve the lower eyelids. Above all else, doing no harm is essential. Perhaps more than any other cosmetic procedure, lower lid blepharoplasty can create horrific and severe problem if not done well. Some doctors will shy away from doing too much to avoid these problems. This may be the case with you. However, at two weeks after surgery you should be patient and save judgement until at least 8 weeks after surgery.

Removing too much skin under eyes could even be worse

The loose skin under your eyes can be improved by doing a pinch blepharoplasty technique without increasing your risk of your lower eyelids getting pulled down like a hound dog. This pinch blepharoplasty technique is very simple and can be done in under an hour and usually takes 30 minutes. I wouldn't be too upset. I'm sure your doctor will be happy to do this for you. One thing that can help those wrinkles and make you look more natural is too add volume under your lower eyes through... more

Philip Young, MD

6 reviews

Bellevue Facial Plastic Surgeon

Laser resurfacing necessary to remove wrinkles after Blepharoplasty

Blepharoplasty of the lower eyelid can remove puffiness and eyelid bags and tighten the lower eyelid skin. The tightening of the lower eyelid skin does pull some wrinkles and loose skin tighter, which improves skin appearance. You are very early in your recovery, and it takes 6 weeks to 3 months to see a more accurate picture of your results. I am positive you will look better in a few weeks. If the eyelid skin has many wrinkles, Blepharoplasty alone is not enoiugh to remove them. The... more

Be careful about tightening lower eyelids to get rid of wrinkles.

Jill It sounds like you are very disappointed because you still have wrinkles and loose skin. Beware! The procedure , if properly done, allows for you to open your mouth fully without having your eyelids start to pull down. A great majority of the lower eyelid problems we see after surgery have to do with skin that was tightened so well that no wrinkles were left. The result is a pulled down lower eyelid, with constant irritation in the eyes. Many times there is pain associated with this... more

First give this some time to settle down.

Jill Your dissatisfaction is not uncommon. Much depends on exactly what you had done, what your issues were to begin with, and what is going on once you are 4 to 6 months out from your surgery. Nothing replaces a personal consultation. At two weeks out, you are extremely early from surgery. Many of the healing processes that we think account for new collagen formation take time to develop and are at their maximum at about 4 to 6 weeks after surgery. This is when the long term... more