Can Asian Eyelid Surgery Make My Eyes Look Bigger?

The most effective was to enhance eye shape and to have bigger eyes is surgery. There are two primary ways to make Asian people have bigger eyes.

The first is by creating a double fold eyelid. This will work if the patient has a monolid. By changing a monolid to a one with a fold, excess skin is removed. Therefore, the patient will not only have double-lidded eyes but larger eyes too. This is due to eye hooding being removed, resulting in the eyes’ dimension becoming larger.

Can Surgery Make My Eyes Look Bigger?

Bigger eyes can be achieved with either the non-incision suture method (stitch method), double eyelid surgery method or from the incision open method double eyelid surgery.  By removing hooding, more eye will show, thus why some call this “bigger eye surgery” informally.  It is not the size of the double lid that will make the eyes appear larger – as the height or the size of the lid does not affect the actual size of the eye palpebral fissure dimension.

Bigger Eyes Through Ptosis Repair

Another method commonly used to increase the eye size is eyelid ptosis surgery.  Eyelid ptosis is a process where the eyelid’s elevating muscle (levator muscle or levator aponeurosis) is tightened and therefore strengthened.

By increasing the effectiveness of this muscle, eyes will open wider and increase the size of the eye-opening. Eyelid ptosis surgery can be performed in conjunction with the double eyelid surgery when the monolid is changed to the double lid. Eyelid ptosis is an integral part of Asian eyelid surgery and Korean eyelid surgery. Historically, Korean patients have been interested in making their eyes larger for a long time.

Other Surgery for Bigger Eyes

Other methods include increasing the horizontal dimension of the eyes by performing epicanthoplasty and lateral canthoplasty

Dr. Kim also performs epicanthoplasty and lateral canthoplasty in Asians. He also lectures on eye enlargement surgery both in the United States and in South Korea.

How Do You Make Bigger Eyes Look Natural?

One of the simplest ways to make a double fold eyelid look natural is by performing non-incision double eyelid surgery. This is also called a suture or stitch technique for eyelid surgery.

The advantage of this method is that the technique does not require an incision. The result looks natural because there is no scar.

Instead of an incision, a stitch is used to make the double eyelid fold. However, this non-incision method can only be used in Asian patients without eyelid ptosis or excess skin hooding.

In patients requiring an incision to create a double lid, an open or standard double eyelid surgery is required. In these patients, the monolid is surgically incised to create a connection from the skin to the deeper layer of the eyelid.  The deeper layers are either levator aponeurosis or the tarsal plate. However, if this connection is not done perfectly with an equal amount of tension, then a visible scar can be seen.

The plastic surgeon must be extremely meticulous to distribute the tension along the entire monolid in these Asian patients. In addition, patients with eyelid ptosis, the eyelid elevating or lifting muscle needs to be tightened or strengthened in order to give a brighter look.

Also, the right adjustments must be made not to overdo the apparent size of the eyes. Some surgeons remove too much skin, resulting in a wide-eyed look that might seem always surprised. A skilled surgeon will always do more with less. That is, they will use restraint and a minimalist approach to get you precisely to the results you want with bigger eye surgery.

Natural Appearing Double Eyelid Surgery

A natural eyelid can be achieved if the suture technique is applied. However, many patients are not a candidate for a suture procedure. When an incision or open technique double eyelid or Asian eyelid surgery is required, it is important that it appears as natural as possible. We can make your results as natural as someone who was born with their own double eyelid folds.

At the consultation with your plastic surgeon, you should ask to see the scar of the incision.

The best way to evaluate the postsurgical double eyelid fold is to look at the high-resolution photo but also to look at the video. By looking at the video of the double eyelid fold scar, you can see if the double eyelid folds move uniformly. In addition, when the eyes are closed, it should be flat with the surrounding skin–not indented or depressed. And when the eyes open, the double eyelid fold should invaginate or fold inward. Only by looking at videos can you determine how natural the Asian eyelid surgical result is.

Harmonious Double Eyelid Fold

A typical incision fold does not look as natural as a non-incision one. Non-incision surgery is also known as the suture technique. The reason why the typical incision technique does not look as natural is because the double eyelid fold does not move harmoniously. This is because the eyelid folds are made separately along the desired fold height. Typically, the sutures are attached from the eyelid skin to the deeper layer of the eyelid to create the double fold. As these sutures are tied, it creates a deep and noticeable scar. In addition, because these sutures are tied individually, the fold does not move succinctly. The eyelid fold is static and is permanently depressed and tied down.

A harmonious double eyelid fold works opposite from the static, traditional incision double eyelid fold. All the individual attachments are united, allowing the eyelid fold to move in a harmonious way. Another advantage is that the eyelid fold does not look depressed when the eyes are closed. The double eyelid is smooth and folds inwards only when the eyes are open. Therefore, the fold appears as if it is a natural crease.

Another advantage of the harmonious fold is that it does not add any additional weight to the eyelid from the internal scar. The typical incision creates a scar as the folds are made from the skin to the deeper eyelid layer. However, the advanced harmonious double eyelid fold is created without dissecting deep into the eyelid. Therefore, the internal scar is not created.

What Makes a Double Eyelid Fold Look Natural?

There are two ways to make a double fold eyelid create bigger eyes that look natural.

One way is to perform a suture technique double eyelid surgery. A suture or non-incision procedure will lead to a natural double-fold eyelid because no incision is made on the eyelid. However, there are many Asian patients who require incision techniques. This is because these patients have excess eyelid skin. Unless the excess or hooding eyelid skin is removed, the double eyelid fold will be covered by the excess eyelid skin. Therefore, it is challenging to make the incision look natural.

When a monolid is changed to a double eyelid by making an incision, the key factor is to make the double eyelid move harmoniously during the eyelid opening and closure.

This is called a dynamic double eyelid fold. This type of fold moves when the eyelid opens and closes. Therefore, the eyelid is not static. In a typical incision surgery, the skin is attached to the underlying levator aponeurosis or tarsus. The skin is tightly anchored down to these deeper structures. However, in a monolid surgery where a natural double eyelid fold is desired, a movement of the double eyelid fold is paramount in creating natural double lidded eyes.

Having bigger eyes through surgery is possible, but working with the right surgeon is crucial. Look at before-and-after photos to see how larger real patients’ eyes look and whether they appear natural.