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895 Park Avenue | New York, NY 10075 | 212.NAT.URAL
When someone looks at you, your eyes make the all-important first impression. Eyes have been called the windows of the soul. In your personal and professional relationships, your eyes play a vital role in the way others perceive you.
Do your eyes create the youthful, confident image you want to project? Or are baggy eyelids or bags under your eyes making you look older?
If your eyes are giving you a tired appearance, you owe it to yourself to see what eyelid surgery can do for you.
The photos below show an actual patient who had upper eyelid surgery by Dr. Sterry. The photo on the right is just one month after surgery.


For more examples, visit our photo gallery
“Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, is plastic surgery that removes excess skin, fat or muscle from the upper and lower eyelids. In most cases, patients choose to have both their upper and lower eyelids done.”
“Eyelid surgery can:
Eyelid surgery can also add an eyelid crease to Asian eyes—but it can't erase evidence of racial or ethnic heritage.”
“Eyelid surgery cannot:
If your eyebrows are sagging, a brow lift is probably a more appropriate option for you.”
“Eyelid surgery is the best bang for your buck when it comes to facial surgery. It's the most overlooked facial plastic surgery, but has the highest yield. People notice your eyes, whether consciously or not. Patients who have eyelid surgery do very well.
“If a patient needed a facelift and eyelid surgery and could afford to do only one, I'd advise him or her to do the eyelids. It's less down time, it really makes a nice difference and the cost is much less.”
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Eyelid surgery is the best bang for your buck when it comes to facial surgery. It's the most overlooked facial plastic surgery, but has the highest yield. |
“No. Many times, I perform eyelid surgery in conjunction with a brow lift and/or a facelift. It's important to understand that while a facelift is very effective in rejuvenating the lower 2/3 of the face, eyelid surgery can have a dramatic effect on making your eyes look younger.”
“I make an incision from the natural crease of the inside corner of the eye to slightly beyond the outside corner. Then I remove excess skin and fatty tissue from the upper eyelid. Because the incision line follows the natural contour of your upper eyelid, it is barely noticeable when it heals.”
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This information is merely an introduction to eyelid surgery. To find out if this procedure is right for you, contact Dr. Sterry. In your personal consultation, he will evaluate you, listen to your goals for achieving a more youthful face and advise you on how you can achieve the look you desire.
“I like to do a more invasive procedure because I think that it produces more natural results. The latest technique is called a septal reset. It really helps to blend in the junction between the cheek and the lower eyelid. The incision is made just under the lash line.
“One of the telltale signs of aging is that the distance from the lower eyelashes to the cheeks increases—the cheeks seem to descend. When I combine a facelift with a lower eyelid lift, I blend that line, making it a little unclear as to where the lower eyelid stops and cheek starts.
“I also try to pull some of the fat over from the lower eyelid—where you might get a bag under your eye. Instead of removing that fat, I like to pull it over the top of the orbital rim—the bone there—which helps to hide what's called the tear trough.”
“I perform eyelid surgery on an outpatient basis at Mount Sinai Hospital, or at one of the local surgery centers.”
“Upper eyelids are pretty straightforward; they don't take very long. Both sides, skin to skin, are probably done in 30 minutes. Lower-eyelid surgery takes 45-90 minutes, depending on the technique I use.”
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“Eyelid surgery is well-tolerated under local anesthesia. Or you may choose to have the procedure done under sedation. If you are having an eyelid lift performed in conjunction with a facelift, you may wish to have the procedure done under general anesthesia, where you will be asleep for the entire operation.”
“Recovery takes about a week for the upper eyelids and 10 days for the lower ones. The upper lids heal more quickly because there's not that much to them. With the lower eyelids, it's a bit more obvious, but within a couple of weeks it's hard to know that someone's had an operation. You can see something is different, but if patients are wearing some cover-up makeup, they typically do very well.”
“You can expect to have a more youthful, alert and refreshed appearance. People may ask you if you've been on vacation—they'll notice something different, but won't realize you've had eye surgery. Best of all, eyelid surgery produces long-lasting results.”
Thomas P. Sterry, MD Plastic Surgery | 895 Park Avenue | New York, NY 10075 | 212.NAT.URAL (628-8725)
Copyright © 2007 Thomas P. Sterry, MD Plastic Surgery. All rights reserved.