COSMETIC SURGERY | EYELIDS
Blepharoplasty: Upper and Lower Eyelid Surgery
Hooded lids that make you look tired, or bags that make you look older than you feel: eyelid surgery is the small operation with the outsized effect. Consultant plastic surgeon led, at Berkshire Grove Hospital.
Procedure
45 to 90 minutes
Anaesthetic
Local
Social downtime
1 to 2 weeks
Full result
2 to 3 months
Is this you?
Most people who come to us for eyelid surgery say one of these things:
People keep telling me I look tired. I'm not tired.
My eyelids have started resting on my lashes.
Eyeshadow is pointless now. There's nowhere to put it.
The bags under my eyes are there no matter how well I sleep.
In photos, my eyes look smaller than they used to.
I've done the creams and the clever concealers. They've lost.
Eyelid skin is the thinnest on the body and the first to show its age; no cream tightens what gravity has stretched. When the change is structural, the honest fix is surgical, and it's a smaller undertaking than most people expect.
THE OPERATION, EXPLAINED
What is blepharoplasty and how does it work?
Blepharoplasty is surgery to remove or reposition excess skin, muscle and fat around the eyes. Upper blepharoplasty addresses hooded or heavy lids through an incision hidden in the natural lid crease; lower blepharoplasty addresses under-eye bags through an incision just below the lashes or inside the lid itself. Each can be done alone or together.
Scars are placed where eyelid anatomy hides them, and typically fade to near-invisibility over months. The operation doesn't stop ageing, and it doesn't change the shape of your eyes unless that's planned; done well, the comment you get is "you look well", not "you've had something done".
Scars are placed where eyelid anatomy hides them, and typically fade to near-invisibility over months. The operation doesn't stop ageing, and it doesn't change the shape of your eyes unless that's planned; done well, the comment you get is "you look well", not "you've had something done".
HONEST SUITABILITY
Who eyelid surgery is right for
Good candidates share three things: the cause of the change really is excess skin or bulging fat, expectations are realistic, and health is reasonable, including being a non-smoker or willing to stop around surgery. That first point matters more than people expect, because not everything that looks like a heavy lid is one. Heavy brows masquerade as heavy lids, and if the brow is doing the drooping, the operation changes. Puffiness can have medical causes, from thyroid and allergy to fluid retention, which are excluded before anyone plans surgery. Dry eyes need assessing before the operation, not discovering after it. And any natural asymmetry is documented up front, because your two eyelids were never identical to begin with.
That's why a proportion of our consultations end with advice other than surgery, including "not yet" and "this is a brow, not a lid". If surgery isn't the honest answer, you'll hear it.
That's why a proportion of our consultations end with advice other than surgery, including "not yet" and "this is a brow, not a lid". If surgery isn't the honest answer, you'll hear it.
The consultation's first job is deciding whether your eyelids are actually the problem. Sometimes it's the brow, sometimes it's dryness, sometimes it isn't surgery at all. You'll get that answer straight.
Apex Medical
Expert care for the
change you choose
WHICH OPERATION IS RIGHT?
Upper, Lower or Both?
For hooding, heaviness, and lids that swallow eyeshadow or rest on lashes. Often done under local anaesthetic in under an hour; the classic "fresher in a fortnight" operation. Severe hooding can even restrict vision at the edges, which makes correction functional as well as cosmetic.
For bags, bulging fat and loose skin below the eye. Technically the subtler art: fat is removed or, increasingly, repositioned to smooth the lid-cheek junction, via a hidden or transconjunctival (inside-the-lid, scarless) incision. Usually general anaesthetic or sedation.
Upper and lower together in one session, one anaesthetic, one recovery. Common, efficient, and your surgeon will say honestly whether both are actually needed or one is doing all the work in your face.
For dark circles and thin under-eye skin without true bags, polynucleotides may be the honest recommendation instead; for early laxity, aesthetic options come first.
Consultant-led care
Millimeters matter;
So does your surgeon
Eyelid surgery is measured in millimetres. Take too little and nothing changes; take too much and the result announces itself. The judgement of where that line sits is the operation.
At Apex, blepharoplasty is planned and performed personally by Mr Kuen Yeow Chin, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and founder of Apex, with eyelid surgery among his core procedures. The surgeon you meet at consultation is the surgeon who operates, and the same surgeon reviews you at every follow-up.
At Apex, blepharoplasty is planned and performed personally by Mr Kuen Yeow Chin, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and founder of Apex, with eyelid surgery among his core procedures. The surgeon you meet at consultation is the surgeon who operates, and the same surgeon reviews you at every follow-up.
Your clinical team:
Mr. Kuen Yeow Chin
Consultant Plastic Surgeon & Skin Cancer Specialist
Reconstructive surgery and advanced skin cancer treatment
Sarah Millward
Skin Cancer Nurse Specialist
Skin checks, mole screening, and early skin cancer detection.
Laura O'Hare
Skin Cancer Nurse Specialist
Skin lesion care, post-surgical recovery, and private dermatology services.
Jackie Brighton
Skin Cancer Nurse Specialist
Expert mole checks, lesion assessment, and aftercare for skin cancer patients.
Jennifer Povey
Skin Cancer Nurse Specialist
Skin care treatment, photodynamic therapy (PDT), cryotheraphy, and personalised patient care.
Mr. Kuen Yeow Chin
Consultant Plastic Surgeon & Skin Cancer Specialist
Reconstructive surgery and advanced skin cancer treatment
YOUR CARE, STEP BY STEP
How Eyelid Surgery
Works at Apex
Five steps, two of them before anyone operates: an honest consultation, then two weeks to think. When surgery is right, it's one of cosmetic surgery's most reliable small operations.
1
Consultation with your surgeon
Lids, brows, tear film and expectations assessed; risks named plainly (bruising, swelling, scar visibility, dry eye, asymmetry, and the rare but discussed serious ones); a written quote.
2
Two weeks to think
Cooling-off as standard; the quote holds.
3
Pre-operative assessment
Health screening; stop smoking and certain medications as advised.
4
Surgery day
Upper: often local anaesthetic, 45 to 60 minutes, home within hours. Lower or combined: usually GA or sedation, 60 to 90+ minutes, home the same day.
5
Recovery and review.
Cool compresses and head elevation for days; stitches out at 5 to 7 days; bruising largely settled by 10 to 14 days; most return to work and social life at one to two weeks; the final, settled result at two to three months, reviewed with your surgeon.
Transparent Pricing
Blepharoplasty Pricing
Fixed, transparent pricing with no hidden extras. Your exact quote is confirmed in writing at consultation, and it holds through your two-week cooling-off period.
Blepharoplasty (upper, lower or combined)
Your fixed written quote reflects whether you're having upper, lower or combined surgery and the anaesthetic involved, and is confirmed at consultation before you decide anything.
from £2,800
Upper blepharoplasty under local anaesthetic sits at the start of that range; lower and combined surgery are quoted individually. Every quote is all-inclusive and in writing before you book.
ONGOING CARE
The honest fortnight, and the quiet months after
The first few days are about swelling control: cool compresses, sleeping with your head elevated, and letting your eyes rest. Bruising peaks early, then fades through shades you'll recognise from any bruise; stitches come out at five to seven days, and by ten to fourteen days most patients are comfortable socially with light makeup.
Contact lenses generally wait around two weeks, eye makeup until the incisions have closed and your surgeon confirms, and the fine scar lines should be protected from sun while they mature. Swelling then settles subtly for weeks, which is why the final result is judged at two to three months, not two weeks. You'll go home knowing exactly what's normal, what isn't, and when to call us, with consultant-led support available throughout.
Contact lenses generally wait around two weeks, eye makeup until the incisions have closed and your surgeon confirms, and the fine scar lines should be protected from sun while they mature. Swelling then settles subtly for weeks, which is why the final result is judged at two to three months, not two weeks. You'll go home knowing exactly what's normal, what isn't, and when to call us, with consultant-led support available throughout.
Where to find us
Consultant-led care at Berkshire Grove Hospital
Apex Medical is based at Berkshire Grove Hospital, Grove House, Waltham Road, White Waltham, Maidenhead SL6 3TN, with clinics also at the Parkside Suite. Patients travel to us from Maidenhead, Windsor, Reading, Bracknell and Slough, and from across Berkshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and London, for consultant-led care in a regulated private hospital without long waiting times. On-site parking is available.
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:30pm | Saturday by appointment only | Sunday closed
Phone
020 3871 5898
COMMON QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about blepharoplasty at Apex Medical
They'll notice you look fresher; they shouldn't be able to say why. Incisions sit in the lid crease or under the lashes and fade over months. The overdone look comes from taking too much, which is a surgeon-judgement issue, and precisely why consultant experience matters.
Usually, yes, under local anaesthetic with you comfortable throughout. Most patients describe it as far easier than they feared, and it means a quicker recovery and same-day discharge.
Most people are comfortable socially at 10 to 14 days with light makeup. Swelling continues settling subtly for weeks; the true final result is a two-to-three-month judgement.
Not by itself. Dark circles are usually pigment, thin skin or shadowing; surgery fixes bags and hooding. If circles are your main concern, regenerative injectables may serve you better, and we'll say so.
Protecting eye function is the first priority; that's why dry eye and tear film are assessed before surgery. Temporary tightness or dryness can occur and is managed; lasting problems are rare and discussed honestly at consultation.
Upper blepharoplasty typically lasts many years and often doesn't need repeating; lower blepharoplasty results are usually very long-lasting. Ageing continues, but from a reset baseline.
Yes; severe hooding can reduce your upper field of vision. Where that's documented, correction is functional surgery, not vanity, and worth discussing candidly.
Patient Stories.
In Our Patients' Own Words
BOOK A CONSULTATION
Find out what your eyes are actually asking for
Bring your mirror-frustrations to someone who can tell you precisely what's structural, what's not, and what surgery would honestly achieve. Then take two weeks to think about it; we insist.
Book a Consultation
Consultant-led private skin, hands and aesthetic care across Berkshire. Precise, caring and expert.