Oculoplastic surgery
In addition to corrective eye surgery, some people need to have constructive eye surgery for areas associated with, or surrounding the eye. These surgery procedures fit under the category of oculoplastic surgery, or oculoplastics. This is the subspecialty of ophthalmology that deals with the reconstruction of the eye and associated structures.
Oculoplastic surgery refers to reconstructive surgery performed by a specialist. It is usually an aesthetic surgery done in the eyelid region, but it can be for practical reasons as well as aesthetic ones. It is reconstructive and cosmetic surgery used to correct and repair eyelid abnormalities which may be present by birth or acquired later by aging, accident, tumor etc.
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What kind of procedures does oculoplastic surgery include? Well, often these surgeons perform procedures such as the repair of droopy eyelids, tear duct problems or repairs, orbital fracture repairs, remove tumors, etc. In addition to that they can provide surgeries that are more along the line of cosmetic surgery such as laser skin resurfacing, eye lifts, brow lifts, and even facelifts.
The following is a look at some of the common procedures that are included in oculopastic surgery:
Eyelid surgeries including the following: blepharoplasty, also known as an eyelift. Blepharoplasty is plastic surgery of the eyelids to remove excessive skin or subcutaneous fat. You can also get asian blepharoplasty, which is ptosis repair for droopy eyelid. Other eyelid surgery includes ectropion repair, which is repair for outturning lid margins; entropion repair, which is surgery for inturning lid margins; canthal resection, which is a canthectomy, or in other words it is the surgical removal of tissue at the junction of the upper and lower eyelids. You can get a canthorrhaphy, which is suturing of the outer canthus to shorten the palpebral fissure. You can get various canthotomy procedures, for the outer canthus, lateral canthus, etc. Epicanthoplasty. Tarsorrhaphy, which is a procedure in which the eyelids are partially sewn together to narrow the opening (i.e. palpebral fissure). And more.
Basically when you are in need of eye surgery, and it is not a vision correction surgery, it usually has something to do with surgery of the eyelid or surrounding areas, and it is going to be performed by an oculopastic surgeon. They may do this surgery to remove eyelid cysts or tumors, or to repair or improve malpositions of the eyelids, such as drooping, inturning, outturning, lid margin issues, thyroid eye disease, watering eyes, eyes that have obstructions in the tear ducts, facial palsy rehabilitation, and even the insertion of artificial, or prosthetic eyes.
Oculoplastic surgeons also undertake aesthetic treatments and surgery to improve the cosmetic appearance of the face, such as blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) to remove excess overhanging skin of the upper eyelids and puffy bags from under the eyes. They also perform brow lift, Botox and dermal filler injections to remove wrinkles such as crow's feet or forehead lines.
