My mother had a blepharoplasty two months ago

Question:
My mother had a blepharoplasty two months ago and now that she is healing, it is clear that one of her lower eyelids is not equal in size to the other one. I too have been thinking about getting eyelid surgery (I’m a 38 year old woman), but her experience scares me. How often does asymmetry between eyes occur from a blepharoplasty?

Answer:
The biggest potential complication of lower eyelid surgery is lid malposition. If you are 38 years old then I assume your mother is at least 58 years old. She likely had to have some skin removed from her lower lid at the time of her blepharoplasty where you may need only the fat of the lower lid addressed. Either way, removal of skin and muscle of the lower lid during blepharoplasty always has the potential of causing lid malposition. At 38 years of age you may not need to have the skin or muscle of the lower lid addressed and that will significantly decrease the incidence of lower lid malposition. If skin or muscle does need to be removed during lower eyelid surgery, then a technique called a canthoplasty or canthopexy will really help to lower the incidence of post operative lower lid malposition.

Posted by Dr. Philip Schoenfeld