It is no big secret that the eyes are the first thing people notice. Human communication not only involves words, but also facial expressions. The single most important entity when it comes to communicating with others are your eyes. As the “window to the soul”, the eyes convey happiness, sadness, fatigue, anger, surprise and age. This is the basis of human communication that allows us to know if someone is approachable, happy or upset even from a long distance away. As a result, we are programmed to look at someone’s eyes first before we approach them and as we engage them.

Aging in the eyelids can inadvertently communicate unintended messages. Aging changes in the eyelids can falsely send a message of fatigue, sadness, anger and lack of well being. Many patients have come to my office expressing that others tell them “Why are you angry?” or “You look really tired”. Additionally, more youthful eyes communicate strength, happiness, and vibrance. These are all positive qualities in our modern society.

Occasionally, when excess skin,drooping eyelids and puffiness of the eyelid covers the eyes themselves they also hide the eyes from others. It may distort what message we are communicating to others or even obscure it.

The single most popular cosmetic surgical procedure are eyelid lifts. Period. There are many terms for eyelid surgery: eyelid lift, eyelid surgery, blepharoplasty, eyejobs. There is a reason it is so popular. No other cosmetic procedure has the ability to rejuvenate the look of a patient alone. Thousands of patients in the United State yearly undergo cosmetic eyelid surgery to improve their appearance. In my practice I perform over 500 cases a year.

Requirements for Eyelid Surgery

When deciding whether to undergo cosmetic eyelid surgery there are three requirements that all of my patients need to have before I perform the surgery. Without these three things, I would refuse to perform cosmetic eyelid surgery on any patient. They are non-negotiable.

First, the patient must be bothered by the appearance of their eyelids.

There should be something objective that the can point to on their eyelids that is bothering them. In some patients, it can be excess skin. In others, it is puffiness of the eyelids. In most it is both.

Second, I must feel that eyelid surgery is capable of fixing the problem that the patient has.

Many times patients will feel that their eyelids are causing a cosmetic problem but in fact it is a different issue such as their eyebrows, cheeks or forehead that is the true problem. Additionally, there are certain things that we will go into that a blepharoplasty will not be able to address such as crows feet or skin discoloration.

Third, the patient must have realistic expectations of what the blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery will be able to achieve for them.

Patients need to have a realistic expectation of not only what the final result will be, but also what the healing process will be like. It is critical to be educated as to what blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery can do and what it can’t do. Also, it is important to understand the healing process as well.

Patients who have these three requirements who undergo eyelid surgery are usually extremely happy and satisfied with their surgery with a qualified surgeon. Every year, I have patients who send me thank you cards and emails thanking me for their new eyelids. A large part of this is not only due to my surgical skill but also due to limiting the patients I operate on to those people who have those three requirements I just mentioned.

If your eyelids bother you, you should call our office for a consultation. By looking at your options you can decide what is the best next steps for you when it comes to your eyelids. Good Luck!