Eyelid Surgery: History Of The Procedure

Eyelid surgery is a cosmetic technique that goes back as far as ancient India and the time of Egypt

. The blepharoplasty has developed over the years from knowledge of plastic surgeons who first introduced such techniques over 4000 years ago.

The knowledge of ancient plastic surgeons was passed on from India through Persia and Arabia to ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians made use of excising flaps of skin from the cheeks or forehead to repair damage done to the eyes, ears, nose or lips.

The documented knowledge of these surgical procedures passed on to the Greek Empire and then to the Roman Empire where they made extensive use of them. During the first century AD, a Roman named Aulus Cornelius Celsus documented making an incision in the eyelids that relaxed them in his medical text titled "De Medicine". This was the first example of the eyelid surgery.

During the dark ages of Europe when the influence of the Catholic church spread, such surgical procedures were considered evil and unnatural, therefore much of the knowledge gained previously throughout history became lost. During the Renaissance, however, old Greek and Roman texts were discovered that gave a rebirth to the surgical profession in general, but this also included the rediscovery of most ancient plastic surgical techniques. In 1818, Karl Ferdinand Von Grafe created the word Blepharoplasty to describe the common surgical technique used to repair the damage done by cancer in the eyelids.

Once the 20th century began, the foundations of cosmetic medicine were in place, but then WWI provided an endless supply of wounded soldiers that suffered from horrible deformities. The prevalence of burns and facial scaring in these patients brought about the environment in which the majority of modern plastic surgical techniques were developed and refined. Eyelid surgery was among the most common procedures performed, but this was usually done in concert with full facial reconstruction.

Later in the 20th century, the blepharoplasty became one of the most popular procedures in Asia. A certain portion of the Asian population is born without a fold in their eyelid which they pay to have added for purely cosmetic reasons. A lower blepharoplasty also became popular because it removed the bags often found under people's eyes.

Although this procedure is now safe and relatively painless, it took centuries of innovation and the eventual use of anesthesia and sterilization to allow the Blepharoplasties that are so common and so safe today.

by: Abigail Aaronson

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