Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) Before & After Case 170

Local anesthesia is requested by many patients who request plastic surgery. There are many advantages of local anesthesia over general anesthesia, but not all cosmetic procedures can be performed via local anesthesia. Fortunately, many facial plastic surgery procedures can be done in the office with only local anesthesia. The patient is awake, alert, and comfortable with this approach to plastic surgery. Upper eyelid surgery is often performed with local anesthesia.

This Washington DC area woman was considering plastic surgery of the face and eyes, but naturally apprehensive about anesthesia. She previously had facial surgery years ago and was determining whether to perform upper eyelid surgery or a brow lift. She consulted facial plastic surgeon Dr. Chaboki to review options.

We've previously reviewed brow vs. bleph in a blog post. Given the opportunity to have local anesthesia, in addition to a quicker recovery and downtime with upper eyelid surgery alone, this patient chose to have upper eyelid surgery. Upper eyelid surgery takes about an hour or less and uses dissolving sutures.

After photographs demonstrate a more "open" eye with a refreshed appearance. She still looks herself without looking different.