Baggy lids can be a combination of extra skin, loose muscles, and fat sticking out from around the eyes.

What causes it?

• Hereditary

• People suffering with a thyroid disorder / dysfunction

• During aging the skin starts to lose its elasticity and this is especially noticeable in the loose & thin skin around the eyes.

• Ocular strain from working on a computer terminal, focusing on paper for long periods, watching television, or doing very fine handwork, can also add to the baggy eye problem.

• Fluid retention can be a major cause of baggy eyes

• Capillary fragility is also a cause of baggy eyes since fluid incorrectly “leaks” from the capillaries into the tissue – Diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease etc

• Smoking

• Allergies -environmental or food allergies, facial creams, cold allergy etc

Who is at risk?

Elderly, Thyroid disease

How is it diagnosed?

Bagginess around the eyes are usually noticed by the person himself or by friends & family.
The Eye Surgeon would conduct a detailed clinical examination to establish it’s severity, cause and the required line of treatment.

What is the treatment?

Many home remedies, skin creams, oils, and massagers are advertised by the manufacturers, however, none offer any definite improvement. Permanent and definite cure is possible by aesthetic plastic surgery of the eye – called Blapharoplasty.

What are surgical options?

Sagging; bagging; or puffy skin on the eyelids or the lower eye area can often be corrected with a relatively simple procedure known as blepharoplasty. Blepharoplasty can be performed by oculoplasty surgeon – ey esurgeon trained to perform plastic surgery of the eye or by plastic surgeons.

In this surgery excess of loose skin and protruding fat tissue is removed / excised and thin / weak tissues are repaired. It is performed as a day care procedure under local anesthesia. It is painless except for the pin-prick sensation of the anesthetic injection.

What are the outcomes?

The results of blepharoplasty are extremely gratifying in case with moderate to severe baggy eyes or blepharochalasis / dermatochalasis.

What are Complications?

• Bleeding / hemorrhage under the skin of eyelids causing black eye

• Wrinkling of skin

• Ectropion or rolling out of the eyelid margins

• Corneal Exposure & ulcer

However, these complications are rare and can be easily managed by appropriate steps.

What is the time course?

The operation for eye bags is performed as a day care procedure and takes about only 30 minutes for each eye. Patient is discharged from the hospital after a couple of hours and the recovery is nearly complete in 2 weeks.

Any other information?

It is preferable that blepharoplasty be performed by an eye surgeon trained to perform plastic surgery of the eye. An eye surgeon, unlike a general plastic surgeon, is better equipped to handle eye related complications.

Author: Dr. Prabhati Mukherjee
Date: 28 November 2008