September 11, 2026 | Plastic Surgery News
Blepharoplasty rose 19 percent in 2025, to 118,978 procedures. That makes it the fastest-growing operation in the top five and, by my specialty’s own reckoning, the most popular facial surgery of the year.
Here is why, in the words I used when asked.
Why patients are so happy with it
“Blepharoplasty is really a procedure that patients are very happy with. It is a predictable procedure. It takes care of the complaints that patients have, which is the excess upper eyelid skin with hooding, and even difficulty putting on makeup, the skin resting on the eyelids, and the overall look of appearing tired. In the lower eyelids, they usually complain of also looking tired, with the bags under their eyes, which may be worse in the mornings, and the tear trough deformity.”
“And although these patients may actually require more work for facial aging, including facelifts, the first thing anybody looks at when they see somebody is their eyes. I think that’s what gives us an overall feeling about the patient, and it is the first thing that we will form an opinion on.”
“The procedures to fix these complaints are usually short, can be performed under local anesthesia or even IV sedation, and have short recovery times. Patients can return to work fast and they heal fast as well, so they see an overall transformation and are quite happy with the results. This is of course noticed by people around them very quickly, and that’s how word of mouth spreads, and this procedure keeps becoming one of the most common that we perform.”
Predictable is the word I keep coming back to. Not every operation is.
The sentence I hear most often
“I think the most common reason patients come in is because people are telling them that they look tired, when they’re actually feeling just fine and feel like they have energy. A lot of them feel younger than their actual age, but the eyelids are not helping them send this message out.”
“They look in the mirror and they look at photos, and they can identify the areas that they don’t like. Sometimes they can’t really identify exactly which procedures they need, and of course that’s why we’re there, to help them come up with the best plan possible.”
You do not need to arrive knowing the name of the operation. You need to arrive knowing what bothers you.
Upper lids or lower lids
“Most patients come in for one or the other, but they may actually benefit from working on both. I think the lower eyelids are a lot more common, with people complaining about their lower eyelid bags, and these are maybe slightly younger patients. The older patients are definitely concerned about their upper eyelids, the hooding, and even the visual impairment it’s causing.”
“Regardless, I think the best thing is to have a consultation and get a recommendation about everything that may make things appear better, with different options, and then the patient can make an educated and informed decision.”
Upper lid hooding can reach the point of genuinely obstructing vision, which changes the conversation from cosmetic to functional. Sometimes the right answer is a brow lift rather than an eyelid procedure, because a heavy brow can masquerade as excess lid skin.
What recovery actually looks like
“The recovery for eyelid surgery is actually quite easy. In my experience with patients, we usually don’t have any pain, but there will be swelling, and there could be bruising around the eyes. If there’s bruising, it can take one to two weeks for the bruising to go down.”
“The upper lid does have a visible scar, which heals quite quickly, and the sutures are absorbable. The lower eyelid surgery does not have any visible scars.”
“Most patients return to work after a week using a little bit of makeup to cover any bruising if necessary. Some patients actually return to work earlier and use thick-rimmed glasses to kind of hide the surgical aspect. Nevertheless, it’s quite an easier recovery compared to a lot of other surgeries.”
Why this is climbing
Lower lid complaints are showing up earlier, and volume loss is part of the reason. As the face loses fat, the lower lid hollow and the tear trough become more visible, which is why fat grafting and eyelid surgery are so often discussed in the same consultation.
Men are a real share of this too, and male eyelid surgery has its own considerations around brow position and scar placement.
Ready to talk?
Call my office at (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or request a consultation.
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#StayBeautiful
Source: American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2025 Procedural Statistics Report. Eyelid surgery 118,978 procedures, up 19 percent, the most popular facial surgery of 2025. Commentary from Dr. Agullo’s dictation of 2026-09-07, Q&A Transcriptions/Eyelid-Surgery-Trends-Commentary.md.
