Lower Eyelid Surgery

Lower eyelid surgery, or lower blepharoplasty, is any surgery that’s performed on the lower eyelid. In our practice, these types of surgery are used to reverse the signs of aging or to correct abnormal or unattractive undereye features.

After your lower blepharoplasty, you can expect some swelling, bruising, and dry eyes. Cold compresses and ice packs can help to alleviate swelling and may be used during the first two days after the procedure. Your surgeon will likely prescribe pain medication for your initial days of the recovery period as well as ointments and eye drops. Patients should also wear darkly tinted sunglasses during the healing process to protect the skin of the eyelids as you heal. You can expect to return to most normal activities within a week, except for vigorous workouts (think Crossfit, not a walk in the neighborhood) which need to wait for at least 2 weeks or until you are cleared by your plastic surgeon. A majority of bruising and swelling dissipate within two weeks after the procedure.

Many times, patients will come to us and say “I just don’t want to have surgery” and that’s a very valid choice to make, but your feelings about whether you want to have surgery or not are not the only factors that should be considered when deciding whether or not to have surgery. Did you know that nonsurgical treatments generally accomplish different results or work for a different subset of people than surgical procedures?

Lower eyelid surgery can be performed under either general or local anesthesia. Reflections Center prefers to limit general anesthesia use, but it is necessary in cases where there is more extensive treatment to the muscle, fascia, or fat pads around the eye. Generally, a simple skin pinch procedure or microfat transfer can be performed under local anesthesia. Your consultation will include not only a discussion of your anesthesia preferences but a frank discussion of your health and well-being in relation to anesthesia choices. Your health is our first priority.

The cost of lower eyelid surgery varies from patient-to-patient depending on factors including the type of anesthesia used, the techniques used during your procedure, and the extent of correction necessary. Generally speaking, the cost of a lower eyelid surgery starts at about $5,500. Financing Your Surgery At Reflections Center, financing is accepted for any procedure over $1,000, including lower blepharoplasty. We partner with Prosper Healthcare Financing and Care Credit, and patients can apply for financing in advance before their appointment.

Yes, upper and lower eyelid surgery can be performed in a single surgical session. This is one of our most common combinations of treatments.

One thing most patients don’t realize is that surgery will not improve skin quality, thickness, or texture – even though it will fix skin laxity (or excess skin). This is especially important for the lower eyelids, where pulling tight skin that is already very thin, delicate, and crepey will create a bad result. Since nearly everyone experiences thinning and loss of elasticity in their undereye skin, this is an important factor to consider. When skin has lost its elasticity and you stretch it tight (remove all the excess skin), the skin once healed will continue to stretch out over time and become thinner and thinner. This is why we almost always recommend both a treatment to improve skin quality in addition to surgery. Most patients have these treatments performed during their surgery session, so it doesn’t have to feel like it’s another procedure and another recovery period. Here you can learn more about improving skin quality and elasticity for the under eyes.

Patients are allowed to begin wearing makeup the day after surgery, but they must be careful to avoid applying that makeup in their incisions. For example, with any surgery performed on the eyes, it’s quite common to have some bruising. There are so many tiny blood vessels in these areas that it’s really impossible to avoid them all, and most patients will have at least light yellow bruising that appears in the first few days. This bruising tends to be on the upper cheek and lower eyelid junction area – and that’s usually an inch or two below where the incisions are. Some patients cover this with large sunglasses (others want to use makeup) and that is perfectly fine. You just want to avoid makeup above the eye that could fall down into the incision line, so avoid placing makeup too close up to those incision lines.