Dear Dr. Winder:
Q. I have a question about eyelid surgery . . . I thought it was part of a forehead lift, but then I read in a magazine about someone who had their "eyes done"?

A. Eyelid surgery is indeed a distinct surgical procedure and is technically referred to as "blepharoplasty". Surgery of the eyelids was really the original "cosmetic" procedure, and is today, stillone of the most common cosmetic procedure with well over 50,000 people in the country choosing to have it done each year.

With an upper lide blepharoplasty, the excess skin and fatty tissue of the upper eyelid is removed through an icision placed in the natural crease of the upper eyelid; these incisions, when completely healed, are usually undetectable. Since fullness in the upper eyelids can develop at a much earlier age than a saggy, wrinkled face, it is very common that many who elect to have eyelid surgery do so many, many years before they need a facelift; it is not uncommon for patients to need this surgery as early as their 20's. Conventional upper eyelid blepharoplasty can be done with as little as local anesthetic (the patient is awake, but the eyelids are numb), and takes about 60 minutes. The cost ranges from $2500 - $5700 if done in a hospital setting; however, we routinely do this surgery in our ambulatory surgical center, on an out-patient basis, and ranges in cost from $1700 - $3300.