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.

Patrick Flaharty, MD FAACS · Answer

Removing the excess upper eyelid skin will definitely reduce the heaviness and hooded appearance and make your eyes appear bigger and more open. You will be pleasantly surprised with the difference upper eyelid surgery can make in your appearance. Once you've healed completely you could consider Botox to lift your eyebrows which would make the eyes appear even bigger but this may not be necessary.

William Portuese, MD · Answer

No, the goal of upper eyelid blepharoplasty is to simply remove excess skin resting on the eyelashes that is creating the hooded appearance. You not want to change the shape of your eye or make it any bigger

John A. Standefer Jr., MD, FACS · Answer

Any time you consider upper eyelid surgery, you should always look to make sure the brows are in good position. You don't want to burn any bridges. If you take all of the extra skin out, it may limit a future brow lift because you may not have enough skin to close your eyelids. As the brows descend naturally with time and muscle activity, the upper eyelids become more "crowded" with the extra skin. A lateral brow lift may get you the look you desire, even without the upper blepharoplasty. If there is still extra skin once the brow is lifted, a skin pinch of the upper eyelid is a simple addition. My Best!John Standefer MD

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

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