Droopy Eyelids After Facelift and Upper/Lower Bleph?

What your surgeon suggested may be the best option for you. However, some recent studies have shown that volume restoration with fillers can sometimes help to control these types of situations if malposition is seen. Perhaps you could bring this up with your plastic surgeon.

     Eyelid malposition or ectropion can occur due to a variety of factors,which many attribute to excessive skin removal.  While this may be the case in some instances, the truth is that something that looks good after surgery can change with patient healing characteristics.  Before committing yourself to skin grafting or a palatal mucosal graft, some use filler to help the situation. 

Malposition of the lower lids is a major complication after face and eyelid surgery.  Too much removal of skin should be avoided.  Patients at risk because of certain anatomical situations need to be carefully managed.  Correction might require further surgery.

  well, the droopy eyelids are almost certainly related to the eyelid surgery, not to the facelift that you had.  It is hard to say if this is the best course of action but I think you are smart in seeking help from an oculoplastic or eye plastic surgeon.  Without photos, it is difficult to assess what would be best for you.  Consider seeing another oculoplastic surgeon (ASOPRS) for a 2nd opinion if you have concerns.

Unfortunately, your problem is not uncommon.  Lower eyelid retraction can occur after lower blepharoplasty.  It is important to be evaulated by an oculoplastic surgeon for possible treatment options, which are available.  Make sure you lubricate your eyes often in the meantime.

I am sorry to hear about your experiences. The key to correcting your problem is to first identify the cause. There are several important layers for your lower eyelids, skin, internal membrane, and inner mucosa. In addition with prior surgery, you may have built up of scar tissues within your lower eyelid. The only way to identify the cause is through an physical examination of the affected area. If your surgeon has clearly identified the issue then the recommendation is fine. There are other ways to fix this challenging problem. If you are unsure about it then seek 2nd opinion.

Best Wishes, 

Stewart Wang, MD FACS, Wang Plastic Surgery

I'm sorry that you've had this problem.  It seems as though you've experienced an ectropion, where the scarring from eyelid surgery causes aesthetic distortion and exposure of more of the eyeball than is meant to show.  This can be a difficult problem to correct, and does often require more than one surgery.  Your current surgeon is likely correct in that the best way to improve these situations is often to bring tissue from other spots, like the mouth, to augment or replace the problematic scar tissue and allow the position of your lids to return to normal.  Sounds like he or she knows a good plan for you and I would think this will likely make a good improvement for you.

It sounds like you have an ectropion which can occur when too much skin is excised during a lower blepharoplasty. It also sounds like you have had a canthopexy as well. This can be a challenging problem to manage and the most important thing to consider at this point is that you have a surgeon who is very experienced in eyelid reconstruction procedures. It sounds like you are on the right track.

As I'm sure you now know, your have an ectropion of you lower lid.  This simply means that the scar created during your facial surgery is tight enough to "pull" down on the skin of the lower lid and expose the eye where it should be adherent to the eye.This normal adherence provides appropriate lubrication and drainage of tears.  It sounds like you have enough scar that a combination of lateral eyelid lift, or cathoplasty, and mucosal grafting will be needed.  An experienced surgeon should be able to show you pictures of the repairs that have been done in this fashion.  Good Luck

The taking of too much skin from the lower lid is less frequent than it used to be. That fact does not help you but it means there seem to be fewer Plastic Surgeons that have encountered this problem. It seems you have had all of the conservative measures and now require an accomplished reconstructive surgeon. What your surgeon has recommended is one way to obtain tissue to use as an internal "spacer" to release the scars beneath the skin. There are other ways including cartilage grafts that serve the same function. On occasion a skin-cartilage graft may be necessary to release the skin tightness also. Finally, lid tightening and even a temporary stitch to sew the upper and lower lids together maymbe used.