Blepharoplasty goes viral

Many of us try to get away on overseas trips (if not traveling locally) for sight-seeing, to ski or play golf. However, most of the country, particularly Aucklanders, had these options severely curtailed during Covid. The prospect of travel is exciting, but for many this has been replaced with options with more immediate gratification. The loss of travel has also often meant longer uninterrupted spells of working, with holidays supplanted by periods of enforced lockdown. Over the last two years, a common comment I have heard is, “I felt I deserved to spend something on myself!”

Shifting priorities

For some, the change in lifestyle has provided time to reflect on life issues more likely to be annexed during their busy working lives. Working from home became the only possibility for a large proportion of the population and this encouraged some to look at concerns outside of their busy work lives.

Standard hours of employment can make it difficult to arrange health-related appointments but the increase in downtime during Covid allowed for reflection on how these things should be prioritised. For example, it is well known that men are much less likely to have regular GP visits and are more likely to present later in a disease process. One reason often given is that they are more likely to have reduced access to healthcare during the week, with the majority having nine-to-five (or similar) jobs. In the past few years, the number of men presenting for blepharoplasty has increased and would now account for around 30% of the patients I see for the procedure.

Ready for your close-up?

I’m sure there are many reasons we hate them, despite the bother of having to physically get to a meeting being avoided, but even after nearly three years of Zoom meetings, participants regularly need to be told to turn their mics on or, at times, their videos off! The camera size and angle on most laptops doesn’t exactly flatter and in most cases the room lighting is harsh or dim but almost always unforgiving. These factors contribute to a tired appearance, from drooping upper-lid skin, enhanced wrinkles and shading of the lower eyelids producing ‘eye bags’.

Most commonly, I see patients requesting blepharoplasty to reduce excess skin and muscle from their upper eyelids. The lower lids, however, can be a more complicated issue as some benefit from transconjunctival fat reduction while others may need skin excision combined with lid-tightening surgery. A further group will get the best results from a non-surgical approach involving injection of soft-tissue fillers, particularly into the tear trough region.

Who knew a virus could have such power on our physical appearance!

Reference

1. Sharma G, Jamil Asaria J, The Impact of COVID-19 on Patient Interest in Facial Plastic Surgery, Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2021 Oct; 9(10): e3890.

Dr Paul Rosser is an oculoplastic surgeon who has worked in both public and private practice for more than 28 years. His Auckland practice Eyes and Eyelids specialises in cosmetic and reconstructive eyelid surgery.