Upper blepharoplasty is a surgical eyelid lift that involves removal of excess skin and a re-shaping of the upper eyelids. I see a number of people who’ve had upper eyelid surgery elsewhere where excessive skin and/or fat was removed, leaving them with hollowed upper eyelids or a dramatic eyelid shape change that is noticeable and sometimes unintended.
In many cases, too much eyelid platform exposure after blepharoplasty will create too much of an eyelid shape change and it looks like something was done.
Cosmetic eyelid surgery is intended to improve your looks without drawing unwanted attention.
There are 2 ways to restore fullness to a sunken or hollow upper eyelid:
1. Upper eyelid filler injections
2. Fat grafting or shifting
Upper eyelid filler for hollowing
Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers work very nicely to fill out a sunken upper eyelid or to lessen an upper lid sulcus. These fillers are safe and can be applied without needles, using a cannula. Fillers such as Restylane or Belotero can be added to the upper eyelid to restore areas where fat was lost with age or removed by surgery. The result is often a more youthful and rounded upper eyelid with less shadowing.
I often perform cannula filler to sunken upper eyelids for my New York patients and others who travel from other parts of the country who have had blepharoplasty with a resultant hollow upper eyelid.
Before and after upper eyelid filler by cannula to reduce hollowing caused by fat removal during blepharoplasty
What’s wrong with hollow upper eyelids
The hollow upper eyelid does not look as youthful as a full, rounded upper eyelid. Hollowing after cosmetic upper eyelid surgery most often occurs at the inner part of the eyelid, also termed the “A-frame deformity” from the shape seen.
If you have had a cosmetic upper eyelid lift and a large amount of skin and fat was removed, you may feel that your eyes don’t look right, or you just don’t look like you. Volume replacement can help with this.
