February Newsletter: The Benefits of Oculoplastic Surgery

Created in Newsletters

Is Oculoplastic Surgery Right for You?

Whether you're concerned about the appearance of your eyes or have an eye injury or condition that affects eye comfort or vision, oculoplastic surgery can offer the perfect solution. Oculoplastic surgery improves the function or appearance of your eyes and could even help you avoid vision loss.

Types of Oculoplastic Surgery

Oculoplastic surgery is performed on the eyelids, tear ducts, eyebrows, muscles, bones, and soft tissues around the eyes.

The surgery is used to:

Remove Skin Tags, Warts, and Other Growths
Repair Injuries to the Eyelids or Areas Around the Eyes
Lift the Eyebrows and Lower Forehead
Remove Skin Cancers or Tumors
Correct Birth Defects
Add Socket Implants After Eye Removal
Remove Extra Skin, Fat, and Muscle from the Upper or Lower Eyelids
Improve Tear Duct Drainage

7 Benefits of Oculoplastic Surgery

Oculoplastic surgery benefits vary depending on the reason for the surgery, but may include:

Improved Appearance. Whether you're concerned about saggy or baggy eyelids or want to correct a birth defect or injury, oculoplastic surgery will help you look your best. Procedures can also reduce lines and wrinkles and balance your facial proportions. Your ophthalmologist uses precision surgical techniques to create a perfectly natural look.
Better Vision. Droopy eyelids aren't just an appearance issue. They can affect your vision if your eyelids protrude over your eyes. Removing excess skin and tissues and lifting your eyelids with an oculoplastic surgery, called blepharoplasty, removes obstructions that interfere with vision. Eyelid surgery was one of the five most common plastic surgeries in 2023, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Injury Repair. Car accidents, falls, sports and work injuries, or contact with sharp objects can seriously damage your eyes. Ophthalmologists use oculoplastic surgery to treat injuries that affect skin, muscles, and deep tissues of the eye and the bones around the eyes. Surgery helps preserve your vision while reducing the visual impact of your injury.
A Boost to Your Self-Esteem. Your self-esteem can take a hit if you're self-conscious about your droopy eyelids, skin tags, birth defects, or asymmetrical eyes. If you've stopped looking in mirrors and avoid meeting new people, oculoplastic surgery could help restore your confidence and self-esteem. Many oculoplastic procedures are performed on an outpatient basis and don't require a hospital stay.
Dryer Eyes. Do you wish your eyes would stop watering? Excessive watering can be caused by a tear duct blockage. Tear ducts are channels that move tears from your eyes to the back of your nose. If other treatments don't clear your blocked tear ducts, your eye doctor may recommend dacryocystorhinostomy, an oculoplastic surgical procedure that creates new tear ducts. The surgery stops excessive watering by improving drainage in the eye.
Vision Protection. Oculoplastic surgery can prevent vision loss due to Graves' eye disease, also called thyroid eye disease. Graves' eye disease occurs when your body produces too much thyroid hormone. The disease can cause protruding eyes, swollen eyelids, eye pain, dry eye, redness, and blurry or double vision. Permanent vision loss can occur if swollen tissues press on the optic nerve. Oculoplastic surgery enlarges the eye socket, decreasing pressure on the optic nerve. Surgery can also restore your eyelids to their natural position if they've retracted due to Graves' disease.
No More Eyelid-Related Discomfort. Aging, rubbing your eyes often, eye injuries, nerve problems and growths can cause the eyelids to turn too far outward (ectropion) or too far inward (entropian). Depending on the condition, you may experience eye irritation, dry eyes, redness, tearing, discharge, pain, light sensitivity or blurry vision. Oculoplastic surgery restores the normal position of your eyelids and improves eye comfort.