What is eye bag surgery?

Patients in my Denver office often ask about “eye bag surgery”. First of all, what are eye bags? The answer to this question plus many more are in this article about eye bags and their treatment.

What are eye bags?

Eye Bags are basically fat from the eye socket that has pushed forward with time. As a result, it creates a bugle or puffiness of the lower eyelid. Often patients will complain that their eye bags are worse in the morning when they first get up. The reason for that is simple. When one is sleeping, the fat in the lower eyelids fill with fluid and become more noticeable. During the day, when one is standing upright, the fluid drains and the bulging fat of the eyelids decrease in size.

What causes eye bags?

Often eye bags are caused by aging. Sometimes, the bags can be associated with medical illnesses such as Graves Disease. Graves disease is an autoimmune disease associated with an increased production of fat in the eye socket. Other times, a previous trauma to the eyelid can cause the tissue holding back the fat to become loose and allow it to prolapse forward.

Most people get eye bags as they get older. Often if their parents had eye bags, it is in their genetics to develop eye bags as well. They may remember their father or mother with eye bags in their older years.

Do men or women get eye bags?

There is no difference between gender and the development of eye bags. Because of makeup use, women tend to notice their eye bags sooner than men but there is no data to support that one sex develops eye bags sooner or more.

What is the treatment for eye bags?

The treatment for eye bags is a lower eyelid blepharoplasty or cosmetic eyelid surgery. In this procedure, a cut is made on the inside of the eyelid so it is not visible to access the fat. It is removed. Sometimes a small cut is made underneath the eyelashes to tighten the skin.

What is the recovery for eye bag surgery?

The recovery is roughly two weeks. At one week, stitches are removed but bruising and swelling can take up to two weeks to improve enough to go in public.

Who should perform eye bag surgery?

Many surgeons such as ENT doctors, general plastic surgeons and ophthalmologists perform eye bag surgery. Oculoplastic surgeons are surgeons who are specialized in eyelid surgery. They train for two years to specialize in eyelid surgery itself. They are unique in that they are the only specialists to focus on eyelid surgery. Dr Thiagarajah is an oculoplastic surgeon who is a member of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery.

He can be contacted for a consultation at 303 468 8844 at his office in Denver Colorado.