What are the pros and cons to having upper and lower eyelid surgery separately?

Thank you for sharing your question. Results should be the same if upper and lower blepharoplasty are performed at the same time or separately. The benefit of having the surgery at one time is less downtime overall. Discuss this with your doctor.Good luck,

Hello.  Thank you for your question.  It is my opinion that upper and lower blepharoplasty can be performed safely at the same time.  This will allow one procedure and one period of recovery.  This is very common practice in facial plastic surgery.  There is really no advantage to doing them separately, and it is very likely to be more costly that way, due to additional facility and anesthesia expenses, not to mention additional time off from work.  The only reason to do them as separate procedures would be patient preference.  Best of luck to you in achieving your aesthetic goals. 

Thank you for your question about eyelid surgery. Pictures would be helpful.If you are thinking about having both upper and lower eyelid blepharoplasty, then most individuals and surgeons are going to have this done at the same time.To be sure, see two or more experienced, board-certified Plastic Surgeons in your area for a complete evaluation to make sure you are a good candidate and that it is safe for you to have surgery.I hope this helps.

The downside for doing them separately is two recovery periods.  Surgical closers don't like it because their job is to close you on as much surgery as possible.  The best reason for doing the uppers and lowers separately is it is what makes you are comfortable.  End of discussion.  Do what you want.  If the potential surgeon does not like it, they can get over it or better, consider finding a different surgeon.

Thank you for your question. There really no benefit to doing an upper and lower bleph separately.  As part of the lower bleph a small incision is often required in the upper eyelid to do a canthopexy to tighten the lower eyelid. That incision can be part of the incision for an upper blepharoasty. If you are planning to do both I would recommend doing both together. The addition of the upper bleph is really quite minimal and also allows you to group your recovery.  All the best,

There is no real advantage to undergoing upper and lower blepharoplasty separately if it is done by someone with sufficient experience. On the other hand the disadvantages include 2 recoveries, extra start up anesthesia and facility costs and potentially doubling the risks such as infection and bleeding that could be inherent to each operation.

The only pro to separate surgery that I can think of is the surgeon can be slightly more exact in the upper lid skin excision if the lower lid is already healed. The con is as you said more expense, two recoveries, and two anesthesias. I never have had a patient want to separate these, in fact patients usually insist on doing it all at one time. Good luck.

There is really no difference in healing, recovery, or final
result by having upper and lower blepharoplasty surgeries done at separate
times.  As you realize, the disadvantage
to having the procedures done separately is that you will have two recovery
periods and the additional cost of a separate anesthesia and facility fee.  If you are unsure about having both
procedures done, other than cost, there is no disadvantage to having them
performed at separate times.  I wish you
a successful surgery and a great result!

cara3, there is no reason to do the upper and lowers at different times unless that is what you request for some reason. the real question is do you need your upper lids done or a brow lift. In my experience the majority of patients that
complain of a tired look to their upper lids it is due to inferior to medial
migration of the brow into the upper eyelid area. In these patients an
endoscopic browlift gives the best result. Over the years I have developed a
sequential approach to browlift surgery and will, in general, do one of three
different lifts depending on the preoperative anatomy of the forehead. A
lateral brow lift is done for patients with heaviness of the lateral brow but a
normal medial brow. A 3/4 brow lift is done for patients with a heavy lateral
brow and a pinched look to the medial head of the brow. A full brow lift is
performed for patients who have a heavy lateral brow, pinching of the medial
head of the brow and inferior migration of the medial head of the brow. This
approach yields a natural appearance to the post operative patient without that
surprised look.

For the less common patient who has brows that
are in the correct position and yet has excess skin and muscle in the upper
eyelid area, an upper lid blepharoplasty with supratarsal fixation is all they
need. Should they in addition have lowering of the upper eyelid over the cornea
then they may need ptosis surgery. I would recommend visiting an eye doctor
should you feel this is the case for you.

Should you have a combination brow ptosis or
sagging and excess upper eyelid skin, do yourself a favor and get the brows
done first and the eyelids done 3-6 months afterward. That is the approach I
take and the majority of patients that I see get the brows done and are happy,
they leave the upper lid alone. More is not always better. For those who decide
to proceed with an upper lid bleph afterwards, I can be more precise doing it
secondarily.

See a plastic surgeon that specializes in facial
aesthetic surgery, get two to three opinions and go with the one you feel most
comfortable. Experience is great teacher so typically find someone with a few
years under their belt!

Thank you for your inquiry.  There is no difference in outcome if the upper and lower eyelids procedures are done separately.   The benefits of having the procedures at the same time are:  the eyelids are corrected at the same time so they both look rejuvenated immediately after 1 procedure, single downtime and healing period, and the cost is usually less if done together. Good luck.