Sometimes it happens that over time, people close to you, observing your face, may start making comments about a possible state of tiredness or sadness, even when you feel anything but sad or tired.
Or perhaps you might wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and not quite believe what you are seeing. You hope you are still dreaming (a not very pleasant dream, of course). You almost feel like grabbing a cloth to "clean" what you see reflected. Almost as if to erase the flaws and go back to that image that you thought (or hoped) to still have.
These are situations that can occur during the gradual aging of the eyelids, which manifests itself with the formation of "bags under the eyes" or the presence of excess skin that can be evident in both the upper and lower eyelids.
I'll start by telling you that this is a procedure that must be done following conservative standards, well-known to the surgeon who performs this surgery frequently. In fact, nothing is more unaesthetic and difficult to correct than a retracted eyelid or an eye that does not close well.
So it becomes essential to rely on a professional with extensive, proven, and demonstrable experience.
What to Do Before the Visit for Blepharoplasty
You've booked the visit. The first step is done.
In this phase, I would ask you to try to focus on what you think is prompting you to make this visit. Whether both eyelids are a source of dissatisfaction or just one. Perhaps the upper one. Or the lower one. A good exercise is to look in the mirror both in the morning and in the evening to notice possible differences throughout the day in the area around the eyes.
We would then discuss it in detail during our meeting. Photos of your eyes from 20 or 30 years ago could be helpful in defining the overall picture.
The First Visit for Eyelid Surgery
This will be the moment when you can finally understand if what you don't like around your eyes can be corrected by eyelid surgery and to what extent.
In this meeting, after listening to you, I will examine your eyelids in detail, assessing the quality of the skin and the extent of its excess. Whether there are bags under the eyelids to correct. The position of the eyebrows and any noticeable asymmetries.
If you wish, I will show you before-and-after photos of patients already operated on by me. I am keen on giving you the most precise idea possible of what I could achieve.
The eyelid surgery and its possible complications will then be explained to you in detail. As well as the postoperative settling period.
How to Prepare for Eyelid Surgery
So... you've done the tests and the electrocardiogram. You know where the clinic is, the day, and the time. The required documents have been prepared.
Everything seems to be ready for your eyelid surgery. Is something missing?
This is the time to quickly go over everything we've discussed. If any other questions arise, I strongly advise you to contact me. Don't leave any questions unanswered, not even the one that seems the most foolish to you. You'll have time to ask them on the day of the surgery, between a preoperative photo and signing various consents.
Eyelid Surgery: The Procedure
What will happen in the operating room is simply what we discussed in detail during the preliminary visit and is now very clear to you.
So, you will know well that the duration of eyelid surgery, performable under both general anesthesia and local anesthesia (possibly with the addition of sedation), varies from 45 to 90 minutes.
You will remember that for both upper eyelid surgery and lower eyelid surgery, excess skin to be removed will be marked. If present, bags under the eyelids will be reduced. In the case of lower eyelid surgery, additional support stitches will be placed to provide support to the eyelid (Canthopexy).
It is also possible to lift the eyebrows laterally through a transpalpebral approach. The need for this additional maneuver is discussed preliminarily. After the final sutures, the procedure ends by applying special support patches.
After Eyelid Surgery
Most of it is done. It won't be long before you can appreciate the final result.
We are 5-7 days after the surgery. Time to remove the stitches: you may still see the scars a little, but know that these will be barely or not at all visible a few months after the surgery.
Recovery is quick for upper eyelid surgery (upper blepharoplasty), a bit slower for lower eyelid surgery (lower blepharoplasty). You will remember well that, on average, you will need to wait 2-4 months before the aesthetic result is optimal, even though after 10-14 days, most of the swelling has normally resolved along with possible bruising. Allowing for a quick return to work activities and general social life.
You will resume intense sports after 3-4 weeks. Your routine postoperative check-ups will be after 1, 4 weeks, 3 and 6-12 months. If necessary, we may add more check-ups.
