Facial Surgery · Abu Dhabi & Dubai
Blepharoplasty refreshes tired, heavy eyes — removing upper-lid hooding and correcting lower-lid bags and dark circles. The modern difference is that the lower-lid fat is repositioned into the tear trough, not simply removed, so the eyes look rested, never hollow. The approach is tailored, often with no visible scar.
Overview
Blepharoplasty rejuvenates the eyes by correcting the changes that make them look tired, heavy or older than you feel. On the upper lid it removes the excess skin that hoods the eye; on the lower lid it treats the bags and the shadowed hollow beneath.
The eyes are the first thing people read, so the goal is a refreshed, natural look — never a surgically hollowed or startled one. The key to that is how the lower-lid fat is handled: rather than simply removing it, Dr. Paulo Michels repositions it into the tear trough to smooth the transition between lid and cheek.
The technique is tailored to your eyes — often through hidden or scarless incisions — and can be combined with the brow or a facelift when the whole upper face is ageing together.
Two different operations
The upper and lower lids age differently and are corrected differently. Many patients need only one; some benefit from both, planned together.
Ageing loosens the upper-lid skin, which hoods the eye, can rest on the lashes and makes you look tired — occasionally even narrowing your field of vision. The excess skin (and a little fat, if it bulges) is removed through an incision hidden in the natural lid crease, so the scar is invisible when the eye is open.
The lower lid develops bags (fat that has pushed forward) and a dark, hollow shadow where the lid meets the cheek. Rather than just cutting the fat away, it is repositioned to fill the hollow — correcting the bag and the shadow together for a smooth, rested lower lid.
The modern difference
For years, lower blepharoplasty meant removing the fat bags. It flattened the bag, but over time it left the eye looking hollow, skeletal and aged — the tell-tale “operated” eye. Dr. Paulo Michels takes the modern approach.
Instead of discarding the fat, he repositions it downward into the tear trough — the very hollow that casts the dark circle. One movement corrects the bag and fills the shadow, restoring a smooth, youthful transition from lid to cheek that lasts, because it uses your own tissue rather than a filler.
The approach is tailored: when there is little excess skin, it is done transconjunctival — from inside the lid, with no external scar at all. When skin must also be removed, a fine subciliary incision just under the lashes is used. Where the lid is lax, a canthopexy supports the outer corner so it stays crisp and never pulls down.
The honest assessment
A common mistake is to keep removing upper-lid skin when the real problem is a descended brow. Getting this right is the difference between a natural result and a hollow, over-operated one.
If the brow sits at a normal height and the heaviness is genuine excess lid skin, a blepharoplasty is the answer — removing that skin refreshes the eye directly.
If the brow has dropped and is pushing the lid down, removing more lid skin only pulls the brow lower and hollows the eye. The real fix is to lift the brow. Dr. Paulo Michels checks this first, so you have the operation your anatomy actually needs.
Our philosophy
The skin
Surgery repositions and removes, but the fine crepey lines and texture of the delicate lower-lid skin live in the surface, which surgery alone cannot smooth. For these, CO2 laser resurfacing is combined with the blepharoplasty.
The laser tightens and resurfaces the thin lower-lid skin, softening fine lines and improving quality — so the eye is not only unburdened of bags but the skin itself looks fresher. Surgery restores the structure; the laser restores the surface.
A complete eye rejuvenation
Comfort & healing
The procedure is engineered to be comfortable and to heal into scars that are hidden or entirely absent.
Tailored anaesthesia
Smaller cases are done comfortably under local anaesthesia with sedation; larger or combined procedures under general anaesthesia (TIVA). Both give a smooth, comfortable experience matched to your operation.
Hidden or absent scars
The upper-lid scar sits inside the natural crease and is invisible when the eye is open. The lower lid is often treated transconjunctivally — from inside, with no external scar — or through a fine line just under the lashes.
Precise, gentle healing
The eyelids have an excellent blood supply and heal beautifully. Fine sutures and meticulous technique give a quick recovery with scars that fade to near-invisible.
Book a private consultation with Dr. Paulo Michels — an honest assessment of your eyes and brow, and a plan that refreshes them without a hollow or operated look.
Recovery
Eyelid surgery is one of the quicker facial procedures to recover from. Most people are ready to be seen socially in about a week.
Cold compresses and rest with the head elevated. Swelling and bruising around the eyes are normal and peak early; discomfort is mild and easily managed.
Any upper-lid sutures are removed. Bruising is fading and much of the swelling has settled.
Most people return to social life and work, with light makeup covering any residual bruising. Glasses are fine; contact lenses a little later.
Residual swelling resolves and the eyes settle. Any laser-treated skin finishes healing to a fresh surface.
The eyes look rested and natural, and refine further over a few months. The upper-lid scar becomes invisible in the crease; the lower lid usually has no scar at all.
Candidacy
Good to know
Honest risks
Blepharoplasty is safe and highly satisfying, but it has honest trade-offs: temporary swelling, bruising and dry or watery eyes that settle, some asymmetry as healing completes, a small risk of lower-lid rounding or pull-down (minimised by the canthopexy support), and the normal healing risks — all reduced by careful, conservative technique and discussed fully at your consultation.
Patient stories
“People kept asking if I was tired. Now they ask if I’ve been on holiday. He didn’t hollow my eyes — he just made them look rested.”Upper + lower lids
“My under-eye bags and dark circles are gone and there is no scar at all — it was done from inside the lid.”Transconjunctival, fat repositioning
“He told me honestly my heaviness was really my brow, and lifted that instead. So glad he didn’t just cut my eyelids.”Brow, not lid
Investment
Every set of eyes is different, so there is no single price. A personalised quotation follows an in-person assessment. The main factors:
In line with UAE medical-advertising regulations, prices are shared privately in consultation rather than published.
FAQ
Blepharoplasty is eyelid surgery that rejuvenates tired, heavy eyes. On the upper lid it removes excess hooding skin; on the lower lid it corrects bags and the dark hollow beneath by repositioning the fat. The aim is a rested, natural look, not a hollow or startled one.
Upper blepharoplasty removes the excess skin that hoods the eye, through an incision hidden in the lid crease. Lower blepharoplasty treats under-eye bags and the tear-trough hollow, usually by repositioning the fat rather than removing it. Many patients need only one; some benefit from both.
No — that is exactly what the modern technique avoids. Older lower-lid surgery removed the fat and left eyes hollow over time. By repositioning the fat into the tear trough instead, the bag and the shadow are corrected together for a smooth, rested lower lid that still looks like your own eye.
Often, yes. When there is little excess skin, the lower lid is treated transconjunctivally — from inside the lid, with no external scar at all. When skin must also be removed, a fine incision just under the lashes is used, which heals to near-invisible.
It improves dark circles caused by the tear-trough hollow and the shadow of the bag, which is the commonest cause. Repositioning the fat fills that hollow and lifts the shadow. Dark circles from skin pigment or thin skin may improve but not disappear, and this is assessed honestly at consultation.
A canthopexy is a stitch that supports and tightens the outer corner of the lower lid. When the lid is lax it is added to keep the corner crisp and prevent the lid rounding or pulling down after surgery — a key step for a safe, natural lower-lid result.
Both can look the same, so it is checked carefully. If the brow sits at a normal height, excess lid skin is the cause and a blepharoplasty is right. If the brow has descended and is pushing the lid down, lifting the brow is the real fix — removing more lid skin would only hollow the eye.
It is tailored: smaller cases are done under local anaesthesia with sedation, and larger or combined procedures under general anaesthesia (TIVA). Both are comfortable and matched to the extent of your surgery.
Quick. Swelling and bruising around the eyes peak early and settle over a week or two; any upper-lid sutures come out at 5–7 days; most people return to social life and work in about a week with light makeup. The eyes refine over a few months.
Yes, and it often is. Eyelid surgery pairs naturally with a brow lift, a mini or deep plane facelift, and CO2 laser skin resurfacing, so the whole upper face is refreshed together in one recovery when it is ageing as a whole.
Upper blepharoplasty results are very long-lasting, often a decade or more, as the removed skin does not return. Lower-lid fat repositioning is durable because it uses your own tissue. You continue to age naturally, but from a refreshed starting point.
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