Does Lower Blepharoplasty Cause Malar Bags?

Malar bags can be difficult to correct and do not typically respond well to standard lower blepharoplasty only, nor are they worsened by lower blepharoplasty.  However,  if they are not properly identified before surgery, there may be disappointment as they may become more apparent with relative smoothing of the eyelid above the malar bag.

One approach involves a cheek or midface lift through the eyelid incicion.  More rarely, direct removal of the malar bags can be considered,  however with the risk of a visible scar.

Hi Bowman 929,

Lower eyelid surgery should fix your malar bags, not make them worse!  Having said that, however, the correction of the bags requires that a particular type of lower blepharoplasty is performed.  Discuss your concerns with your surgeon and be sure that he or she knows that the malar bags are a concern of yours.

Good Luck!

A lower blepharoplasty if done correctly, can correct malar bags.  Sometimes there is some loose skin which needs to be removed, but more often, the cause is fat which has descended out of it's original position.  This fat needs to be repositioned-not removed, in order to achieve a youthful lower eyelid/cheek junction.

This can be performed by a board certified plastic surgeon or a board certified ocuoplastic surgeon.

Best wishes,

Dr.Bruno