When facial aging affects more than one area, improving only one part of the face may not create the balanced rejuvenation you are looking for. A deep plane facelift can significantly improve aging through the cheeks, midface, jawline, and neck—but it isn’t designed to correct excess upper eyelid skin or under-eye bags.
Eyelid surgery can refresh the area around the eyes, but it won’t lift sagging cheeks, redefine the jawline, or address loose skin through the lower face and neck. For patients experiencing both, the natural question is: Can a deep plane facelift and eyelid surgery be performed together?
Yes. When you are an appropriate candidate for both procedures, combining a deep plane facelift with eyelid surgery can address aging across different areas of the face during the same surgical plan.
At Dr. Demetri Facial Plastic Surgery in Tampa, double board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Demetri Arnaoutakis specializes in facelift surgery and has performed more than 1,000 facelift procedures. His approach focuses on restoring youthful facial contours while maintaining the features, proportions, and expressions that make you look like yourself.
What Does a Deep Plane Facelift Treat?
A deep plane facelift addresses structural aging through the midface and lower face.
Rather than relying primarily on skin tightening, the deep plane technique releases specific facial ligaments and repositions deeper facial tissues.
This allows descended tissues to be restored toward a more youthful position while the overlying skin is repositioned without excessive tension.
A deep plane facelift can improve:
- Sagging through the cheeks and midface
- Jowls
- Loss of jawline definition
- Loose skin along the lower face
- Aging through the upper neck
- Deepened folds associated with facial descent
Dr. Demetri believes the deep plane technique provides particularly effective, long-lasting facial rejuvenation because it addresses the deeper structural changes responsible for facial aging. What it doesn’t directly address is the eyelid area.
What Does Eyelid Surgery Treat?
Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, is specifically designed to rejuvenate the area around the eyes. Depending on your anatomy and concerns, treatment may involve the upper eyelids, lower eyelids, or both.
Upper Blepharoplasty: Upper eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) can address loose or sagging upper-eyelid skin that creates a heavy, tired, or hooded appearance. Incisions are positioned within the natural eyelid creases to help keep resulting scars inconspicuous.
Lower Blepharoplasty: Lower eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) can improve under-eye bags caused by protruding or displaced fat. Depending on your needs, excess fat may be partially removed or repositioned to create a smoother transition beneath the eyes.
The objective isn’t to change the fundamental shape or character of your eyes. It is to create a more rested appearance while maintaining natural facial identity.
Why Combine a Deep Plane Facelift with Blepharoplasty?
Facial aging doesn’t necessarily occur within the boundaries of individual cosmetic procedures.
You may have sagging through the cheeks and jawline and hooding of the upper eyelids. Or perhaps your lower face has lost definition while under-eye bags make you appear tired even when you feel rested.
A facelift alone won’t correct those eyelid concerns. Likewise, blepharoplasty can beautifully rejuvenate the eye area without correcting significant aging through the cheeks, jawline, and neck. When both areas contribute to an aged appearance, combining procedures allows them to be considered as parts of the same face rather than isolated concerns.
Potential advantages can include:
- More comprehensive facial rejuvenation
- Better balance between the eyes, midface, and lower face
- Addressing multiple areas during one surgical session
- One period of overlapping recovery rather than two completely separate surgical recoveries
- A coordinated surgical plan designed around your overall facial anatomy
The point isn’t to perform more surgery simply because procedures can be combined. It’s to determine whether treating both areas creates a more balanced result for your pattern of facial aging.
Do I Need Upper or Lower Eyelid Surgery with My Facelift?
That depends entirely on what is contributing to the aging you see around your eyes. If excess upper-eyelid skin creates hooding or makes your eyes appear heavy, upper blepharoplasty may be appropriate. If under-eye bags or protruding fat are creating puffiness beneath your eyes, lower eyelid surgery may be considered.
Some patients benefit from treatment of both the upper and lower eyelids, while others don’t need eyelid surgery at all. This is where comprehensive facial evaluation matters. The objective isn’t to assemble a list of procedures based on age. Dr. Demetri evaluates how different areas of your face have changed and recommends treatment based on the anatomy actually contributing to your concerns.
Will a Deep Plane Facelift Improve My Under-Eye Area?
A deep plane facelift can provide excellent midface rejuvenation, but it isn’t a substitute for blepharoplasty when the primary concern involves the eyelids themselves. This distinction is important because patients sometimes assume lifting the cheeks will automatically correct everything around their eyes.
If your concern is primarily excess eyelid skin or under-eye bags, those issues may remain even after an otherwise successful facelift. During your consultation, Dr. Demetri can determine whether the change you’re seeing is primarily related to facial descent, the eyelids, or a combination of both.
What About Combining a Brow Lift with Facelift and Eyelid Surgery?
Sometimes what looks like an upper-eyelid problem isn’t caused entirely by the eyelid.
A descended brow can contribute to heaviness around the upper eyes. In those cases, removing eyelid skin alone may not address the entire concern.
A brow lift can reposition a descended brow, while upper blepharoplasty addresses excess eyelid skin. A deep plane facelift treats aging farther down the face. Not every patient needs all three procedures. The important part is identifying which anatomical structures are actually responsible for what you see before deciding how to treat them.
Is It Safe to Have a Facelift and Eyelid Surgery at the Same Time?
Facelift and eyelid surgery can be performed together in appropriately selected patients.
Whether combining procedures is appropriate for you depends on your overall health, medical history, extent of surgery, anatomy, and other individual considerations.
Dr. Demetri performs facelift surgery in his fully equipped Tampa operating suite with a surgical team that includes a board-certified anesthesiologist, operating nurse, and surgical assistant. His deep plane facelift procedures are performed with IV twilight sedation rather than general anesthesia. Your consultation allows Dr. Demetri to determine whether you’re a good candidate for combined surgery and develop a surgical plan appropriate for your individual needs.
What Is Recovery Like After a Deep Plane Facelift and Blepharoplasty?
Recovery varies based on the procedures performed and your individual healing response.
Swelling and bruising are expected after both facelift and eyelid surgery, so combining procedures allows those recovery periods to overlap rather than requiring you to recover from two separate operations at different times.
Following a deep plane facelift, swelling commonly increases during the first several days before beginning to subside. Sutures are typically removed around day eight, and Dr. Demetri generally considers facelift patients “restaurant ready” at approximately 10–14 days.
Eyelid surgery also causes temporary swelling and bruising around the eyes. Most patients should expect to give themselves time before feeling comfortable returning to work, social activities, or events. Combining procedures doesn’t mean recovery will be identical to recovering from either operation alone. Dr. Demetri will provide a customized recovery plan based on exactly which procedures you undergo.
Will Combining the Procedures Make Me Look Overdone?
The number of procedures performed doesn’t determine whether a result looks natural.
Surgical planning does. When different areas of the face have aged together, treating them thoughtfully can actually create a more harmonious result than correcting one area while leaving another significantly unchanged.
The goal isn’t to erase every sign of age. It’s to restore more youthful relationships between facial features without creating an appearance that looks tight, operated on, or unlike you.
This is particularly important when combining facelift and eyelid surgery because the eyes are central to facial expression. Eyelid rejuvenation should complement the changes made through the midface and lower face rather than compete with them.
Why Choose Dr. Demetri for Deep Plane Facelift Surgery?
When you’re considering multiple facial procedures, the surgeon’s understanding of how the different regions of the face relate to one another becomes particularly important. Dr. Demetri is a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon who specializes in facelift surgery.
He has performed more than 1,000 facelifts and currently averages approximately four to six facelift procedures per week. He also lectures on his surgical techniques at plastic surgery conferences and welcomes physicians and residents who come to observe him perform facelift surgery. His focus is not simply on making the face tighter. It is on creating natural-looking, long-lasting rejuvenation that respects each patient’s anatomy and facial identity.
FAQs About Combining Deep Plane Facelift and Eyelid Surgery
Learn More About Comprehensive Facial Rejuvenation with Dr. Demetri in Tampa
A deep plane facelift and eyelid surgery treat different areas, but those areas still belong to the same face. When aging affects the eyelids as well as the cheeks, jawline, and neck, combining procedures may provide a more balanced approach than treating either region in isolation.
The decision isn’t about how many procedures you can combine.
It’s about identifying the anatomical changes responsible for what you see and creating a surgical plan that addresses them without changing the characteristics that make your face yours. If you’re considering a deep plane facelift and wondering whether eyelid surgery should be part of your treatment plan, schedule a consultation with Dr. Demetri Facial Plastic Surgery in Tampa.
