Eye Corner Lift (Canthoplasty), Who Is It for and How Do the Methods Differ?

Key points

• An eye corner lift can reduce sagging around the eyes, so the face can look fresher and more defined.
• There are several ways to change the angle of the outer eye corners, including skin-tightening devices, thread lifts and surgery to remove excess skin, depending on the condition of your skin.
• Surgical techniques such as an endoscopic brow lift are one option for excess skin around the eyes. Wound care usually takes about 7 to 14 days, depending on your skin and how you look after it.
• Choosing an experienced doctor helps you get advice that suits your own concerns.

An eye corner lift is an option for droopy outer eye corners and loose eyelid skin that covers the original crease, which can make the face look tired or less fresh. It helps reposition the area around the eyes. Changes in the skin around the eyes with age, lower collagen levels and anatomical factors from around age 30 onwards are often the main reasons this skin starts to sag naturally.

This article from S45 brings together information on different ways to lift the area around the eyes, from non-surgical skin-tightening devices and thread lifts to surgery with the scar hidden under the brow, to help you choose a method that suits your skin.

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What Is an Eye Corner Lift?

An eye corner lift is a procedure that raises sagging skin and muscle at the outer ends of the eyes, so that drooping eye corners look more open. There are several methods, from minor surgery to non-surgical skin-tightening devices.

Trimming excess skin around the eyes reduces how much it covers the crease, so your original crease can be seen more clearly. With surgery, the doctor usually hides the scar along the edge of the brow hairs or along the hairline.

Healing time and results differ depending on the method. Surgery usually needs a recovery period for swelling and bruising to go down, which takes about 7 to 14 days, depending on your skin.

What Can an Eye Corner Lift Help With?

An eye corner lift is an option for firming the area around the eyes. It supports drooping outer eye corners in a better position, which can help with changes in the skin around the eyes that come with age.

Adjusting the angle around the eyes can also make the face look fresher and more defined, as a way to care for eye and face proportions that change with age. Results and changes depend on each person’s skin and how they respond.

Droopy Eyes, Sad-Looking Eyes and a Sleepy-Looking Face

Droopy or sad-looking eyes and a face that always looks sleepy can be addressed with an eye corner lift, which raises downward-slanting eye corners to a balanced level. Skin around the eyes that sags with age and gravity is often the main factor that pulls the outer corners down and affects the look of the whole face.

Raising the angle of the outer eye corner by about 2mm to 3mm can make the eyes look fresher, and in some cases can also reduce limits on side vision. With this technique, the doctor usually stitches the outer eye corner to the tissue covering the bone at the temple, to hold it at an angle that matches the tail of the brow.

Eyelid Skin Covering the Crease Until It Disappears

Eyelid skin covering the crease is when the skin of the upper eyelid starts to sag and cover the natural crease. Eyes that used to look large can look smaller, the crease gradually hides until it cannot be seen, or the eyes can look different sizes. It is usually caused by skin ageing, lower collagen and weaker function of the muscle that lifts the eyelid.

Leaving excess skin at the outer eye corners to fold over can affect your vision, because sagging eyelid skin blocks the upper field of vision. You may need to open your eyes wider or raise your brows to see, which can lead to deep lines on the forehead.

Eye corner lift surgery is therefore another option. The doctor trims away sagging excess skin, so your original crease can be seen more clearly and your field of vision can be wider.

Balancing the Area Around the Eyes With Your Facial Proportions

An eye corner lift helps balance the area around the eyes with the middle of the face and the jawline. When the distance between the outer eye corner and the hairline at the temple is too wide, the upper face can look flat and wide. Moving the outer eye corner up draws attention to the middle of the face, so the overall proportions look slimmer.

Who Is an Eye Corner Lift Suitable For?

An eye corner lift is an option for people whose outer eye corners slant downwards. People who have their outer eye corners repositioned usually fall into a few main groups, based on the skin around their eyes and what they want for the balance of their upper face.

People With Droopy Eyes Due to Their Structure or Age

People born with downward-slanting outer eye corners and people whose skin around the eyes has sagged with age can have an eye corner lift to reposition excess skin. From around age 30 to 40, the body makes less collagen, so the skin at the outer eye corners starts to sag and cover the original crease. Some people are born with an outer eye socket rim that slopes downwards, which can make the face look tired or sad.

If the skin keeps sagging, skin that folds over itself can cause dampness and irritation in the fold at the outer eye corner. Surgery to remove excess skin around the eyes is an option that can widen the field of view and lower the chance of dampness from skin folds.

People Who Want the Area Around Their Eyes to Match Their Facial Proportions

Changing the proportions around the eyes with an eye corner lift can help balance the area at the outer eye corners with the temples. This option may suit people with a fairly wide distance between the outer eye corner and the side of the face, which can make the temples look flat and wide. Raising the angle of the eye corners can change how this area looks, so the temples look more in proportion and more defined.

Repositioning the outer eye corners to slant upwards also shows more of the outer eyelid, which can help with everyday make-up, such as drawing eyeliner at an angle that matches the lower lash line.

Which Eye Corner Lift Method Suits Your Face?

The method for droopy outer eye corners depends mainly on how much your skin sags and on your natural eye shape. An assessment by a doctor helps you find the method that suits your goals and the proportions around your eyes. Current options range from skin-tightening devices and thread lifts to surgery with the scar hidden along the brow hairs.

1. Eye Corner Lift With a Skin-Tightening Device

An eye corner lift with a skin-tightening device is a non-surgical option for changing the angle of the outer eye corners. These devices deliver heat energy deep under the skin to support collagen around the eyes and temples. They may suit people with mild to moderate sagging around the eyes, and the heat energy helps support the skin of the upper eye area so the outer eye corners look lifted.

2. Eye Corner Lift With a Foxy Eyes Thread Lift

A thread lift for the outer eye corners with the Foxy Eyes technique is an option for adjusting the angle of the outer eye corners and the tail of the brows using dissolvable barbed threads. This method lifts sagging skin at the outer eye corners without a large surgical incision, and can also support natural collagen production around the threads to help support the skin around the eyes.

During the procedure, the doctor uses a needle to insert dissolvable threads under the skin, to lift and hold the outer eye corners towards the temple or hairline. The threads gradually dissolve on their own over about 6 to 12 months.

3. Eye Corner Lift Surgery With the Scar Hidden Under the Brow (Subbrow Lift)

Eye corner lift surgery with the scar hidden under the brow, or subbrow lift, is another option for sagging eyelid skin and outer eye corners. The doctor designs the incision to sit along the lower edge of the brow.

This method may suit people whose eyelid skin at the outer corner has dropped over the original crease, but who still have a fairly wide space between the brow and the eye. The doctor trims excess skin under the brow and stitches the skin upwards, and the scar is hidden by the existing brow hairs.

4. Endoscopic Brow Lift

An eye corner lift with the endoscopic technique (endoscopic brow lift) is an option for sagging of the forehead and upper face without removing a large area of skin. A small camera is inserted through incisions of about 2cm to 3cm hidden along the hairline. The magnified view lets the doctor see the structures and nerves, which helps lower the chance of injury to important blood vessels around the eyes.

Small instruments are used together with medical materials such as Endotine fixation devices to hold the skin and muscle in a position that suits the proportions of the face. There are about 3 to 5 small incisions in the scalp, and you have a follow-up appointment and stitch removal about 10 to 14 days after surgery. Recovery and wound healing depend on each person’s body and aftercare.

What Is an Endoscopic Brow Lift?

An endoscopic brow lift is a surgical technique that lifts the forehead and upper face using a small camera, to address drooping brows and hooded eyes and to lift the outer eye corners so they look more open, without the long incision used in facelifts in the past. The doctor makes small incisions of about 2cm to 3cm along the hairline to insert a small camera and see inside on a screen.

A device called Endotine is used to hold the lifted muscle and skin in their new position, and it dissolves on its own under the skin. This small-incision surgery makes aftercare easier, and the small scars are hidden in the hair.

Who Is an Endoscopic Brow Lift Suitable For?

An endoscopic brow and eye corner lift may suit people with drooping brows or drooping eye corners. It helps open up the eyes so they look fresher, without trimming the eyelid skin directly. It may suit:

• people with a fairly narrow space between the brows and eyes
• people with lines on the forehead and between the brows, together with eyelid skin that has dropped over the crease
• people who want to reposition their brows with the scars hidden in the scalp

Why Choose S45 Clinic for an Eye Corner Lift

Having an eye corner lift at S45 Clinic means individual care. We pay attention to personal details to balance the area around your eyes, while keeping to standards at every step.

Care by Experienced Doctors

The doctor assesses the anatomy of your eyes individually, because the skin and fat around the eyes differ in thickness from person to person. Assessing before treatment helps lower the chance of the outer eye corners looking too tight or both eyes looking uneven afterwards.

Individual Design of the Crease and Outer Eye Corners

Adjusting the angle of the outer eye corners for each person relies on assessing your facial proportions first. The doctor analyses the height of your brows, the distance between your eyes and the right slant for your outer eye corners, so your eyes do not look forced. The aim is usually to keep the angle of the outer eye corners at a suitable, balanced level compared with the inner corners.

Operating Room Standards

The operating room meets the standards of the Ministry of Public Health, with air pressure control and fine particle filtering to keep the air clean. There is also a backup power system that switches over immediately in an emergency, so medical equipment keeps working, including while the wound is being stitched.

How to Prepare for Eye Corner Lift Surgery

Preparing before eye corner lift surgery helps lower the chance of complications and helps the wound heal better afterwards. The key steps before surgery are:

1. Stop taking aspirin, ibuprofen and supplements that affect blood clotting, such as fish oil, vitamin E, ginseng and ginkgo extract, for at least 14 days before surgery, to lower the chance of prolonged bleeding and reduce swelling and bruising afterwards.
2. Stop smoking and drinking all types of alcohol for at least 14 days before your treatment, because nicotine and alcohol narrow the blood vessels, which makes wounds heal more slowly than usual.
3. Tell our staff about your health, especially any drug allergies, health conditions or regular medicines, such as blood pressure or diabetes medicines, so the doctor can plan suitable care.
4. Wash your hair thoroughly before the day of surgery, and do not wear make-up or eye make-up on the day of treatment, to reduce germs around the eyes.

How to Look After Yourself After Eye Corner Lift Surgery

Following the advice after surgery is an important part of supporting your recovery. Care at each stage needs attention and focuses on different things.

Wound Care, Swelling and Bruising

Cold compresses around the eyes after eye corner lift surgery help reduce swelling and bruising in the first 48 hours. Wrap a cold gel pack in a clean cloth and press it gently around your eyes and forehead. Avoid pressing directly on the wound, to lower the chance of it opening. Keep the wound clean carefully for the first 3 days, as follows:

1. Wipe away blood around the wound with cotton wool soaked in clean saline 2 times a day, in the morning and evening.
2. Apply a thin layer of antiseptic ointment as advised to help the wound heal well.
3. Sleep with your head raised on 2 pillows for the first 3 nights to reduce fluid build-up in the face.

Frequently Asked Questions About Eye Corner Lifts

How Long Do the Results of an Eye Corner Lift Last?

For surgery, the results of an eye corner lift usually last for several years, depending on your skin and how you look after it. For non-surgical options such as skin-tightening devices or thread lifts, results may last about 1 to 2 years, also depending on your skin and aftercare.

How Long Is Recovery After Eye Corner Lift Surgery?

Recovery usually takes about 7 to 14 days, depending on each person. This is when swelling and bruising around the eyes start to go down. During the first week, you can return to work or do light activities that do not need effort, as advised by your doctor.

How Much Does Eye Corner Lift Surgery Cost?

Eye corner lift surgery has a range of costs, depending on the method chosen for each person. Factors that add to the cost include general anaesthetic given by an anaesthetist and equipment such as temporary bone fixation devices. Check the total cost, including medicines to take home and the follow-up programme for the first 14 days, so you can plan your budget.

Can Men Have an Eye Corner Lift?

Men can have eye corner lift surgery as usual. The focus is on adjusting the angle of the outer eye corners so the face looks more alert and less tired, while keeping a masculine look that is not too soft or too sharp.

Summary

An eye corner lift is an option for droopy or sad-looking eyes, or for sagging eyelid skin that covers the original crease. It supports the angle of the outer eye corners in a suitable position, which can help the area around the eyes look more open and fresher.

There are several options, from energy-based skin-tightening devices and thread lifts to endoscopic forehead lift surgery. Choosing the right method needs an individual assessment of your face shape, skin and level of sagging with a doctor, so the result suits your facial proportions.

Surgery and medical procedures carry risks. Find out about them and consult a doctor before you decide. Results depend on each person.