Will upper eyelid blepharoplasty make my eyes look bigger? (photos)

Question

I am having Blepharoplasty surgery in a week, I want my eyes to look bigger. They are not too hooded, I am 34 yrs old and I am doing it to fix the hooding and prevent more in the future. I would like to know if this is something that could make my eyes look bigger. Thank you in advance I appreciate your time.

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD · Answer

As commonly practiced, blepharoplasty surgeons often aggressively remove the upper eyelid fold. It is not your enemy. You need at "hood." Removing it surgically will skeletonize your upper eyelids and make them look older. The absence of an upper eyelid fold reduces the signal to the forehead that stimulated the frontalis muscle to raise the eyebrows.  That means that after this type of aggressive surgery, the eyebrows often fall. Predisposed eyelid can also become droopy after this type of simple upper blepharoplasty. This is probably ground that your eyelid surgeon has already covered with you. If not, you might want to discuss these concerns before having surgery.

James H. Rogers, MD · Answer

From your photos, you do not appear to have agreat deal of hooding, as you have noted. The lid margins are in a normal position, and the amount of scleral show ( how much "white " is showing, is quite normal and youthful. Upper eyelid blepharoplasty , while removing the excess hooding and making the eyelid more defined, will not affect any of the above , or make the eye look bigger.

Lucas Bryant, MD · Answer

Great question. In general, upper eyelid blepharoplasty is designed to remove excess skin and improve contour. Patients with droopy eyelids usually undergo a different procedure called ptosis repair. The other consideration is a patient with a heavy brow. This can be from a variety of reasons including excess supraorbital fat or lacrimal gland hypertrophy/prolapse, as well as brow sagging (ptosis). As others have said, upper blepharoplasty alone will not generally make your eyes look bigger. Warm regards.

Mehryar (Ray) Taban, MD, FACS · Answer

Yes, upper blepharoplasty can expose more of the upper eyelids. Best to only remove skin and not fat.

John J. Martin, Jr., MD · Answer

From these photos it looks like you have a heavy brow and some lateral brow ptosis.  Lifting the outer brow will usually make the upper eyelid skin improve and the eye will look more open.  You can try this with some Botox to the outer brow which will elevate the brow.  If you like the way it looks you can do a surgical temporal brow lift. Just removing skin from the upper lid will probably not give you the result you are hoping for.

Will upper eyelid blepharoplasty make my eyes look bigger? (photos)

Answers (8)

Answer: Upper blepharoplasty to expose more of upper eyelids

Answer: Upper blepharoplasty to expose more of upper eyelids

Answer: Heavy brow

Answer: Heavy brow

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Will upper eyelid blepharoplasty make my eyes look bigger? (photos)

Answers (8)

Answer: Upper blepharoplasty to expose more of upper eyelids

Answer: Upper blepharoplasty to expose more of upper eyelids

Answer: Heavy brow

Answer: Heavy brow

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Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Eyelid Surgery

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.