Many people who are unhappy with the results of their upper or lower blepharoplasty (lower eyelid surgery or upper eyelid surgery) often seek out another plastic surgeon to correct or revise the undesired outcome. A repeat cosmetic eyelid procedure is known as “revisional eyelid surgery” because it addresses issues arising from the initial plastic surgery.
Revisional eyelid surgery is highly complex because the surgery is performed on anatomy that has already been altered and has scar tissue. Because both of these variables can pose challenges that only become apparent during surgery, a revision procedure requires a high level of skill and experience that only a select number of surgeons possess.
The most common reasons that patients sign up for revisional cosmetic surgery revolve around dissatisfaction with eyelid position can be caused by several reasons, including:
If not enough upper eyelid skin or excess fat was removed, the upper lid becomes too low or even droopy (known as ptosis) and the lower eyelids can have an under eye baggy look. Neither of which is desired.
If too much tissue was removed from the upper eyelid crease, eyes can appear hollowed out, or the lower eyelids appear too far down, revealing too much of the whites of the eye (known as the scleral show)
If a patient went into the initial surgery with asymmetrical eyes and this problem wasn’t fully addressed, they might seek a second surgery to try to resolve this issue
Scars after an eyelid tumor removal, blepharoplasty procedure or a brow lift. A patient might request a surgical procedure for scar revision
The natural aging process can cause skin sagging, making eyelift surgery results fade over time, prompting the desire for a touch-up procedure
If too much tissue was removed during an eyelid lift, making it impossible to close the eyes properly, this can lead to dry eye symptoms
The decision to revise your eyelid surgery is a highly personal one that requires careful consideration. And frankly, this is made more difficult if you’re unhappy and emotional after a disappointing initial surgery. It’s important that you don’t make such an important decision hastily.
It’s advisable to wait until your post-op swelling has completely resolved, typically several months after your initial surgery, in order to see the final result before contemplating further surgery.
It is also important that you have a clear understanding of what you hope to achieve with revisional surgery and that you receive appropriate advice as to whether your objectives are feasible and if additional surgery is the best option for achieving your goals.
The first, and most important, step in considering revision eyelid surgery is having a consultation with a board-certified oculoplastic surgeon with extensive experience in revision eyelid procedures. An oculoplastic surgeon is a board-certified ophthalmologist with additional sub-specialty training in cosmetic surgery of the eyelids, eyebrows, forehead, and midface.
Oculoplastic surgeons are trained to correct not just the appearance of the eye, but to do so while preserving or improving the eye’s function – something an ophthalmologist is best qualified to do.
It is critically important to seek out a surgeon for facial plastic surgery who has performed many hundreds or thousands of revision procedures and has demonstrated success in addressing scar tissue and functional defects resulting from previous surgery.
These doctors will provide good advice as to whether your desired outcome is feasible and can formulate a treatment plan tailored to your specific situation. Sometimes additional surgery is not the best option and you would be better served by another type of intervention.
Your eyes are one of the most delicate structures in your body. That’s why, when you’re looking for a Los Angeles area surgeon to correct the appearance or function of your eyelids and the structures surrounding your eyes, you want to seek out an oculoplastic surgeon.
As a trained ophthalmologist with a sub-specialty in oculoplastic surgery, Dr. Rafi Israel is able to thoroughly examine your eyes, understand any underlying eye disease, and identify potential problems that might impact the surgical plan -- things that even a board-certified facial plastic surgeon is not trained to do.
We have decades of experience in treating functional eye problems affecting patients’ vision and eye health, in performing cosmetic procedures and doing revisions of surgeries performed elsewhere with unsatisfactory outcomes.
Among the conditions we treat are excess eyelid skin or fat, drooping eyelids, wrinkles around the eyes, eyelid reconstruction after tumor removal or eye injuries, excessive tearing, revising prior unsatisfactory eyelid surgeries, and abnormally turned in (entropion) or turned out (ectropion) lid margins.
If you would like to schedule a consultation with us in our Beverly Hills office to discuss your concerns about the appearance or function of your eyelids and to learn what treatments might be right for you, please call 866-945-2745 or click here to request an appointment online.
Our ophthalmology clinics Covid-19 patient safety procedures exceed all CDC recommendations.
Dr. Rafi Israel is an ophthalmologist and fellowship-trained oculoplastic surgeon.
He holds certification from the American Board of Ophthalmology and is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In addition to caring for patients, Dr. Israel is an inventor of numerous medical devices.