Baggy, sagging skin around the eyes is one of the most common effects of facial aging. Blepharoplasty, eyelid tuck, is a routine outpatient procedure designed to address each of the three problems, which can make your eyes look tired. The most common problem is an excess of skin involving both the upper and lower eyelids. An eyelid tuck removes the redundant skin and recreates the normal skin fold of the upper lid. The bags primarily under the eyes come from bulging fat. A blepharoplasty removes this fat to help smooth out the contour. Finally, in some patients, overactive muscles can cause a noticeable bulge just under the lower eyelid, especially during smiling. Trimming the muscle helps to obtain the best results.

A typical patient with sagging skin covering the natural eyelid fold and adding wrinkles which give away her age. After surgery the clock has been turned back and the youthful look is dramatic. Patients 27 to 80 years old have benefited from this outpatient procedure. Getting the bags out changes the look from tired to terrific. When redundant skin of the upper eyelids causes the obstruction of vision, as in this patient, surgical correction may be covered by insurance. If there is no significant impairment then upper eyelid surgery is considered cosmetic, as is always the case with the lower eyelids. But, as this patient demonstrates, the youthful look is well worth the investment. One year after the surgery this patients eyes still look young, rested, alert, when compared to her old picture. The side view again shows why men and women chose blepharoplasty to look their best.