What Is Laser Blepharoplasty?

Some people refer to it as the eye lid lift. Blepharoplasty is a cosmetic surgery involving the removal or spreading of muscles, skin, or fats of creepy, drooling, or dark eyelids. In case both eyelids are affected, the procedures of the upper eyelid and the lower eyelid are separately undertaken. The eyelids are a vital part of the eye. It is the eyelid and the areas around the eyelid that you turn to learn whether someone else is lying or saying the truth. The eyelids also play a major role in identifying a person and his or her emotions. The parts around the eyelids or the eyelids themselves may wrinkle; they can be puffy, droopy, or asymmetric such that it may be tricky for someone to tell your true emotions or the best version of your looks.

A surgical procedure (Blepharoplasty) may help to resolve such conditions. The only big question is the differences and effectiveness of both the traditional blepharoplasty and the laser blepharoplasty. Patients are also curious to know which type of blepharoplasty is effective for what part of the eye. We will discuss this here. You can also discuss it further with your surgeon to receive a detailed explanation.

A laser eye lift or laser blepharoplasty is the same surgery but performed using a laser instead of a scalpel. The surgery is done under an outpatient program. It helps a patient improve his or her eye sight and avoid impairment of vision. It is also useful to help a patient have a more youthful appearance. To enhance the looks of a patient, the surgery may be done alongside other cosmetic surgeries like brow lifting and resurfacing of the skin. These surgeries when performed together have the general goal of enhancing the appearance or eye sight of a patient.

These are the two ways to perform an eyelid surgery (better known as blepharoplasty). Your surgeon may opt for laser blepharoplasty, which is performed by Carbon dioxide laser, or opt for traditional scalpel surgery depending on your condition and situation. To further understand the differences between the 2 types of eyelid surgeries and to understand the details on how they fit into a surgeon’s practice, you may find the following important. Below is a layout of the basic processes of the laser blepharoplasty and the traditional blepharoplasty.

What Traditional Blepharoplasty Involves

During the traditional Blepharoplasty operation, depending on your situation and on the condition you are addressing, excess skin fats, muscle, or tissues in your eyelids or around your eyelids are either removed or moved to enable better appearance and more open vision. Relying on the issue you are addressing, your surgeon makes an incision using a scalpel. If your upper eyelid has any excess skin, the surgeon makes the incision along the creases and natural folds of your skin to shed off the excess. The procedure is not overly complicated and may take your surgeon only 45 minutes.

There are two approaches for the lower eyelids. If you only have puffy eye bags, then your surgeon only makes an incision inside the eyelid and removes or reduces the fat pads. In case you intend to remove both fats and excess skin, your surgery makes a discreet incision along the eyelid. It is not easy to notice the incision because it is hidden behind the lower lash line.

The traditional blepharoplasty is known to be fast. Surgeons also report an incredible ease in performing the surgery. Apart from that, the recovery from a traditional blepharoplasty is so far the shortest in the field of cosmetics surgeries.

How Different Is Laser Blepharoplasty?

Laser Blepharoplasty can be differentiated from traditional blepharoplasty just by the instruments used during the surgery, the laser or the scalpel. The advantage of using a laser is that the laser is more versatile. The laser can perform the following functions during the procedure:

• Act as a dissection device
• Act as a cutting tool
• Used to cauterize

Areas like periorbital areas are handled better using specifically the laser blepharoplasty. This is because it is easy to cauterize the superficial incision. This means that the patients bleed less. Surgeons prefer using this method on patients who use anticoagulants.

There are however some lasers (for example, the carbon dioxide laser), that produce coagulant necrosis that kills cells along the edges of a wound and are known to be irreversible. Even though the laser may be known to minimize bleeding and bruising during or after surgery, laser causes slow healing and scarring during recovery.

The Deciding Factor

In the end, the biggest difference between the two surgeries is the instrument used for surgeries and the persons taking and delivering the surgery. When it comes to patients, different people have different preferences. Surgeons may decide to work with the procedure that favors the patient most. Considering the fact that both surgeries have advantages and disadvantages, the surgeon will fully involve the patient in reaching the decision on which one to use.

Surgeons may also decide to use both methods at the same time on a patient. It is even reported that the most successful eyelid surgeries are conducted using both laser and scalpel procedure at the same time. This, however, totally relies on the patient’s conditions and needs.

Surgeons who practice laser blepharoplasty always use it as a promoting tool. This is because many patients fear facing the manual scalpel technique. What is however important is the experience and the skill of the surgeon, and the way the surgeon and the patient handles the whole procedure.

How Long Is the Recovery?

Recovery from a laser blepharoplasty is faster as compared to recovery from a traditional eyelid surgery. It is easy to take them on a Friday. This is because it will take just around 7 days to return to work. When you resume your work, you may hear compliments from colleagues or friends about how your looks have changed. If you only have the surgeries on the lower eyelid, you return to work faster as the recovery takes even fewer days.

What Are the Advantages of Using a Laser Instead of Knives?

In traditional blepharoplasty, bleeding during the surgery is one common complication. This bleeding may interfere with the view of the surgeon. Laser blepharoplasty on the other hand controls the bleeding, this is because it seals up the small blood vessels on the eyelids during the procedure. This gives the surgeon an open view.

With the traditional eyelid surgery, you take longer to heal. In laser blepharoplasty, you heal days or weeks faster. This is so far the most important benefit of having a laser blepharoplasty.

When Can I Return to Work?

If your surgery was only on the lower eyelid, you may be able to start working on the second day after the blepharoplasty. If it is only the upper eyelid, you may have bruises that may take up to one week to reduce. You may therefore return to work after a week or so. This will find when the swollen eyelids have significantly reduced and no one can easily identify the bruises.