Upper Eyelid Lift

Ptosis Repair or Blepharoplasty?

Patients often come to see Dr. Massry for an upper eyelid lift.  This is a procedure that a cosmetic oculoplastic or cosmetic ophthalmic plastic surgeon, like Dr. Massry specializes in.  The question is, what does an upper eyelid lift mean?  Well, it can mean three things: an upper eyelid blepharoplasty, a ptosis repair, or both.

An upper eyelid blepahroplasty is the surgical procedure to remove excess or unwanted skin, muscle, fat, or any combination of the three to make the upper eyelid look more youthful. The actual upper eyelid height is not altered.  In other words the distance fo the upper eyelid from the pupil in unchanged.  This is a relatively straightforward procedure with minimal risks in the hands of a cosmetic oculoplastic specialist like Dr. Massry.  The photo below demonstrates an upper lid blepahroplasty (excision of skin, muscle, and fat) without a ptosis repair (distance of upper lid margin (lashes) to pupil does not change).  This patient also had lower lid blepahroplasty

On the other hand, a ptosis repair is the name given to the procedure of lifting the height of an eyelid that has fallen.  This is very different from a blepharoplasty, in that to lift the eyelid height, the eyelid lifting muscles have to be identified, shortened and re-secured.  This is a very specialized surgery which requires a lot of experience to perform correctly.  In addition the complication rate for this surgery is much greater than for blepahroplasty.  Only a cosmetic oculoplastic surgeon, like Dr. Massry, should perform this surgery.  The photo below shows the right upper lid was lifted without excising skin, muscle, or fat from the eyelid.  This is a ptosis repair and not a blepahroplasty.