[Lari Plastic Surgery] A Complete Guide to the Key Things You Need to Know Before Surgery for Wider, More Open Eyes

Canthoplasty, lower canthoplasty, combined lateral and lower canthoplasty, eye-corner canthoplasty, and other names are all used for lateral canthoplasty.

It is widely known as a surgery that enlarges the eyes by extending the outer corner of the eye.

Because it can effectively make the eyes look bigger and longer in line with the purpose of the surgery,

there are also many side topics that come with it.

Today, we would like to talk about several keywords related to lateral canthoplasty

that many people considering the surgery are curious about.

Combined lateral and lower canthoplasty

Before revision double eyelid surgery and lateral canthoplasty / 6 months after surgery

Combined lateral and lower canthoplasty is a surgery that improves eyes that look cramped by increasing the horizontal length of the eyes.

It does this by moving the lateral canthal ligament an appropriate amount from its original position,

expanding the eye diagonally downward.

Since it is a surgery that makes the eyes look larger, it is effective for people whose eyes are small and look cramped,

and because the position of the outer corner of the eye can be adjusted during surgery, it is suitable for eyes whose corners are too raised and look sharp.

Before revision lateral canthoplasty / 2 months after surgery

After surgery, the eyes look refreshingly larger, improving the cramped feeling of small eyes,

and eyes that looked sharp because the outer corners were raised become gentler and give a better impression. As a bonus, because the horizontal length of the eyes becomes longer, the cheekbones may look relatively smaller,

so for people with prominent cheekbones, it can truly be a two-for-one procedure.

The surgery time for combined lateral and lower canthoplasty is not as long as rhinoplasty or facial contouring surgery,

but because it is eye surgery, there may be inconvenience in keeping the field of vision clear while the incision heals. Also, stitch removal usually takes two weeks, which is relatively long for eye surgery, so you need to make time in advance.

Conjunctival edema after lateral canthoplasty

The first thing people experience after surgery is difficulty keeping the field of vision clear. Right after surgery, objects often look blurry, and in many cases they may appear doubled or tripled.

Another thing that can follow lateral canthoplasty is conjunctival edema,

which can be simply described as swelling of the eyeball. It is a condition in which the conjunctival tissue of the eye swells abnormally,

and it commonly occurs after combined lateral and lower canthoplasty.

Before lateral canthoplasty / 2 weeks after surgery / 2 months after surgery

Conjunctival edema is generally not a common phenomenon,

so when it occurs, it can feel very alarming at first,

and secondarily it can cause various eye discomforts (a foreign body sensation, stinging, sensitivity to light, dry eyes, etc.). If the swelling is severe, it may also prevent the eyes from closing properly or be accompanied by redness.

So if conjunctival edema occurs, caution is needed,

but after the stitches are removed, it usually recovers naturally within 1 to 2 weeks,

so there is no need to worry too much because it is a temporary symptom.

In the photo above, you can see the state before surgery, the swollen state, and the appearance after recovery over time.

Scar tissue after lateral canthoplasty

Scar tissue and scars are different concepts. It is not a bumpy surface on the skin, but rather feels like a tissue mass that can be felt under the skin.

After lateral canthoplasty, as the incision site where the scar forms heals,

fibrous tissue may grow excessively and create scar tissue.

Before revision lateral canthoplasty / 2 weeks after surgery / 3 months after surgery As you can see in the middle photo, it appears along with swelling,

and tissue gathers like a bead beneath the outer corner of the eye, forming scar tissue.

Because this scar tissue appears as the wound tissue heals,

it does not show up in the early stage after surgery,

but as the major swelling goes down, it gradually becomes visible. It may stand out around one month after surgery,

and then it goes through a process of naturally softening over about 3 to 6 months.

If you have keloid-prone skin, scar tissue may form more easily,

and depending on the degree, steroid injections may be needed to reduce it.

(*At this time, steroid injections are used at the doctor’s discretion,

and overuse can cause changes in skin color or skin indentation, so caution is absolutely necessary.)

The “ㄷ” shape after lateral canthoplasty

The so-called “ㄷ” shape after lateral canthoplasty, commonly known as a side effect of combined lateral and lower canthoplasty,

refers to the back part of the outer corner of the eye becoming blunt in the shape of the Korean consonant “ㄷ.”

In fact, the “ㄷ” shape after lateral canthoplasty is an unavoidable result for patients who want excessive widening.

For people who want to make their eyes larger beyond the limits of their eye structure and shape,

such a result can occur unavoidably.

Before lateral canthoplasty / 3 months after surgery

The reason the originally sharp outer corner of the eye

changes into a somewhat blunt shape after canthoplasty is the structure of the eye. Because the eyeball, which is spherical, moves as it blinks tens of thousands of times a day,

the end of the surgically treated eye corner heals in a way that wraps around the eyeball,

so it settles into a slightly rounded shape rather than a sharp one.

In the after-surgery photo above, the eye corner is rounded,

but it is not in a state that would be described as a “ㄷ” shape deformity.

Of course, a severely sunken “ㄷ” shape eye corner with exposed red tissue

is a deformity in the eye-corner shape caused by scar adhesion or scar tissue,

and correction through reconstruction or revision surgery may be necessary.

Semi-permanent lateral canthoplasty

There are many stories saying, “Does lateral canthoplasty attach again?” This applies only to simple lateral canthoplasty.

A simple lateral canthoplasty that merely widens the horizontal length

often results in the opened area reattaching to its original state over time.

However, the lateral canthoplasty performed at Lari Plastic Surgery

uses a completely different method from simple lateral canthoplasty,

so the results of the widening are maintained semi-permanently.

Before lateral canthoplasty and under-eye fat repositioning surgery / 2 months after surgery

Not only the before-and-after photos from 1 to 2 months after surgery that many clinics show,

Before revision lateral canthoplasty / 1 year after surgery

but also the photos taken one year after surgery can demonstrate the semi-permanent effect of Lari Plastic Surgery’s combined lateral and lower canthoplasty.

Today, while looking at selfie photos of patients who had surgery at our clinic,

we have discussed in detail the various keywords that may come to mind when thinking about lateral canthoplasty. If you are considering lateral canthoplasty, you should understand and think through the keywords mentioned above carefully

so that everything can proceed smoothly from the start of surgery to the results after recovery.

If you have questions not only about lateral canthoplasty but also about other cosmetic procedures,

please leave a comment,

and we hope you will visit the Lari blog often so you do not miss much of the information about surgery!