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- The eye lift, also known as a blepharoplasty, is one of the most requested plastic surgeries in the US.
- The procedure trims back excess skin on the eyelids and helps give the eyes a more youthful look.
- The onset of remote work and Zoom face could be driving up interest among younger generations.
There's a plastic surgery procedure on the rise that helps improve the appearance of tired eyes. And that's good news for anyone who doesn't want other people to know how much sleep they got the night before.
The blepharoplasty, commonly known as an "eye lift," tightens the skin around the eyes and improves the appearance of undereye bags and puffiness — essentially giving the eyes a more youthful look. After nose jobs, eye lifts have become the one of the most requested plastic surgery procedures in the country, according to Vogue.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says the blepharoplasty was the fifth-most common procedure in the country in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available.
"The goal is to remove all of the extra skin that might have accumulated on the eye as a result of aging, gravity, and loss of elasticity," Carolyn Chang, San Francisco based plastic surgeon told Allure. Though it's largely a cosmetic procedure, it can improve eyesight, especially for people whose field of vision has been obstructed by sagging eyelids, according to Cleveland Clinic.
What is an "eye-lift" and how much does it cost?
There are two versions of the procedure: One for the upper eyelids and one for the lower eyelids. And though the aims are the same — to cut back excess skin and trim fatty tissue around the eyes — the surgical techniques are different. Depending on whether a patient opts to treat their upper or lower eyelids (or both) the procedure can take anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours, according to Cleveland Clinic.
It's generally a painless surgery where complications are rare, but not everyone is a good candidate. "Sometimes the doctor suggests a blepharoplasty when the patient really needs a brow lift," Dr. David Rosenberg, a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon in New York City told Allure.
The average cost of a blepharoplasty is $3,339, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. But pricing can vary upon location, complexity of the procedure, and whether a patient is opting for an upper or lower blepharoplasty. In New York, for example, a patient could expect to shell out $8,000 for an upper eyelid procedure, and $9,000 for a lower one, New York based plastic surgeon Dr. Lara Devgan, told Allure.
Remote work is driving a eye-lift boom among 30 year-olds
While blepharoplasty candidates are typically patients in their fifties and older, in recent years, younger generations have increasingly been expressing interest in the procedure.
The 37-year-old actress Amanda Bynes revealed that she underwent the surgery in a video on TikTok in December. "It was one of the best things I could have ever done for my self-confidence, and it made me feel a lot better in my skin," she said.
Robert Schwarcz, an oculoplastic surgeon based in New York, has also seen a notable increase in the number of patients in their thirties coming to him for consultations, according to Vogue. He suspects that it has something to with all the time remote workers have been spending staring at their faces on Zoom. "You're now comparing your face to your colleagues', even though you're supposed to be doing work," he told the outlet.
The convenience of working from home has also made it easier to quietly recover from a blepharoplasty — and evade questions from curious colleagues. "Now, with the advent of working from home virtually, there is overall a much larger volume of facial surgery because it is now easier to hide during the healing process and a heightened awareness of one's facial appearance," San Francisco-based Dr. Chang told the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Though Dr. Chang had noticed interest picking up among younger generations even before the pandemic, especially as social media influencers like the Kardashians have helped reduce the stigma around plastic surgery. "I think that social media – in particular, Instagram and TikTok – and the popular press are also contributing to the desire for younger patients to seek out eyelid surgeries," she told the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
