Question:
I am 33 years old and have bags under my eyes. I don’t think they necessarily make me look older. I just don’t like them. How long is this surgical procedure? Are the bags made of fat that is removed, or do you have to fill in the area? How long afterwards will my eyes look black and blue?
Answer:
Lower lid bags are usually the result of excess fat that has protruded from the lower lids. Lower lid blepharoplasty has changed significantly in the past several years. In the past, this fat would have been removed and the eyes may have looked hollow after the surgery, just without the bags. Today, more surgeons are removing only a portion of this herniated fat and repositioning the fat back behind the eye and over the bony rim of the eye to give a more youthful appearance to the eye. At 33 years of age you will unlikely need any significant modification of the lower eyelid skin so the procedure can be performed through a small incision on the inside of your eyelid. The recovery period for this is extremely rapid and you should not appear to be too bruised after about a week.
Posted by Dr. Philip Schoenfeld