If our eyes are the windows to our soul, then it stands to reason we want them to look the best they possibly can. Age brings with it stretched skin, weakening muscles in the eyelids, droopy upper eyelids, and bags underneath the eyes. The effect is often one of fatigue, puffiness, and a drawn, depressed appearance. These issues can even restrict your peripheral vision if severe enough.
At The Lanfranchi Center, board certified and award winning physician, Dr. Paul Lanfranchi, specializes in restoring youth to your eyes, returning that bright-eyed, alert, and ready-to-take-on-the-world confidence you desire with the upper eyelid lift, the lower eyelid lift, or both. But what’s the difference?
The Upper Eyelid Lift
One of our most popular treatments—and Dr. Lanfranchi’s favorite—the upper eyelid lift, or upper blepharoplasty, reduces the excess skin, or hooding, over the upper eyelids, and removes fat pads if they are present. Hooded eyes, sagging tissue, or fat deposits can, for women, impede the application of makeup, and for both men and women, age us beyond our years or obstruct peripheral vision.
The procedure begins with a hairline incision placed in the natural crease of both upper eyes. Dr. Lanfranchi meticulously removes excess skin and any fat pads that may be present, and contours the upper eyelid for a bright-eyed, awake appearance. This does not change the shape of the eye or eyebrow, so there is no risk of that “surprised” look.
The Lower Eyelid Lift
The lower eyelid lift, or lower blepharoplasty, considers three treatment areas: puffiness under the eye, or bags, the quality of the skin, or wrinkling, and the fat deposits beneath the eye in relation to the upper cheek area. Excessive wrinkling of the skin can often be treated with a fractional CO2 laser treatment, and lower eyelid and upper cheek hollowness or puffiness can be treated using dermal filler or fat transfer. The area is reshaped for the smoothest possible result, and can take years off your appearance.
Results and Recovery
Both procedures can be performed at one time, and patients frequently choose to include a brow lift to treat the whole eye area at once. Blepharoplasty treatments have some of the shortest and easiest recovery periods, between 2-3 days for upper blepharoplasty, and 3-4 days for lower blepharoplasty. Patients often report that, with less pressure on their eyelids, they feel less tired and have less eye-strain at the end of the day than they did before the procedure.
Am I a Good Candidate?
Upper eyelid lifts may be an option for patients as young as 30, and lower eyelid lifts for those as young as 35 where indicated. If you experience baggy or droopy upper eyelids, excess skin above or below your eyes, especially if it interferes with your peripheral vision, or bags and puffiness under your eyes, you might be an ideal candidate for upper or lower blepharoplasty or both. If you’re tired of looking sleep-deprived, worn out, or haggard, talk to The Lanfranchi Center about an upper and lower eyelift to restore natural alertness, brightness, and youth to your eyes. They are, after all, the windows to your soul.
Contact The Lanfranchi Center today to schedule a consultation for your eyelid lift. We are here to provide you with the personalized aesthetic care you’re looking for.