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- Look More Youthful with Eyelid Surgery or Brow Lift
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Male Voice: When it comes to cosmetic surgery, rule number one is don't make someone look like someone they never were. If you never had heavy eyelids, you don't want heavy eyelids after surgery. So how do you know what someone looked like before? The easiest way to determine where someone started is to look at old photographs. We like to look at high school graduation, and then if you can find something from each decade, something from the '20s, something from the '30s, something from the '40s, and so forth. You can study the photographs; determine which facial features have stayed the same over time and which have changed. If your eyebrows have always been in the same position, even if they're relatively low compared to some of your friends or some models, that's fine. Don't change them. Once you know what's changed, then it's much easier to make a plan for how to make someone look more youthful but still look like themselves.
Let's think a little bit about eyelid surgery. The upper eyelid and eyebrow are closely related. When an upper eyelid is heavy, it might be heavy because there's just extra eyelid skin which has developed, or it might appear heavy because the eyebrows that actually dropped a bit, pushing skin into the eyelid. So some people who have heavy upper lids actually need to have a forehead lift. Some need to have eyelid surgery, and some need to have both. That's where the old photographs really play a very important role.
Both eyelid and eyebrow surgery can be performed at the same time. They're outpatient surgery. You do not have to stay overnight in the hospital, and the recovery tends to be fairly short, with most people resuming their normal activities after a week or so. Just as the eyebrow can fall on the upper face, changes can occur in the mid face below the lower eyelid as well. Lower eyelid surgery is sometimes performed alone or can be performed in conjunction with the addition of filler materials or surgical manipulation of the mid face or the cheek.
Upper eyelid, eyebrow, lower eyelid surgery are all outpatient procedures. It does not require an overnight stay in the hospital, and there's usually very little discomfort afterwards. The vast majority of our patients find that extra strength Tylenol is usually sufficient to help control discomfort. Bruising is always a part of surgery. We can minimize bruising sometimes using lasers or medications or other special devices. On average, about 80% of bruising and swelling is resolved within the first two weeks, but we have some lasers and some special treatments that we can do that will help bruising resolve much more quickly.
Another area where we sometimes see patients interested in surgery is people who have already had surgery around their eyes that just didn't go so well. Corrective surgery can often be performed to improve the position of eyelids or to help correct a problem which may have occurred after previous surgery. Again, old photographs are the best guide to know what you're trying to accomplish.
Look More Youthful with Eyelid Surgery or Brow Lift
Doctor Brian Biesman discusses how Eyelid Surgery can make someone look more youthful and still look like themselves.