Lower Blepharoplasty -Los Angeles, CA

Darkening beneath the eyes can have multiple causes. In some cases, it may be caused by shadowing created by excess or pusedoherniated fat and an attenuated orbital septum. In other cases, it is the actual bony anatomy of the skull in the area beneath the orbit (eye socket) that can cause shadowing. Or it may be that thinning of the skin, or of the layer of fat beneath the skin, of the lower eyelid may allow reflection of light from the blood vessels and muscle beneath the orbit. This can be perceived by the viewer as pigmentation or darkening of the lower eyelid skin. These causes of darkening or apparent pigmentation of the lower eyelid may be amenable to improvement by various maneuvers employed in lower blepharoplasty, such as the differential removal of excess fat from the different compartments of the lower eyelid, transposition of fat from one part of the eyelid to another to camouflage the structures causing the apparent darkening, excision of redundant eyelid skin, or tightening of the lower eyelid. Other causes of darkening of the lower eyelid, such as inflammation and edema, hyperpigmentation from excess sun exposure or trauma, or hemosiderin deposition are less amenable to surgical treatment. In some cases, there is more than one factor that is causing the apparent darkening beneath the eyes, and a treatment plan employing a range of modalities must be undertaken that may only reveal improvement gradually over time.