Aulus Cornelius Celsus
Roman encyclopedist
Described excision of redundant, overhanging upper-eyelid skin in De Medicina, the earliest surviving written account of eyelid skin surgery.
Sources · tabanmd.com · plasticsurgerykey.com
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History of eyelid surgery
From a Roman surgical text to the first FDA-approved eyelid drug: who described, named and refined each step in eyelid surgery, oldest first. Every line in the timeline links to its source.
Timeline
Oldest first. Every line carries its source.
| Year | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 25 AD | Celsus describes excision of overhanging upper-eyelid skin in De Medicina, the earliest surviving written account of eyelid skin surgery. | source |
| c. 1000 | Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal describes upper-eyelid blepharoplasty and entropion/ectropion repair in Tadhkirat al-Kahhalin. | source |
| c. 1000 | Al-Zahrawi's Al-Tasrif systematizes operative surgery, including eye and eyelid procedures, in Al-Andalus. | PMID 6338803 |
| 1817 | Georg Joseph Beer gives the first description in print of excess upper-eyelid skin. | source |
| 1818 | Karl Ferdinand von Graefe coins "blepharoplastik" for eyelid reconstruction after cancer excision. | source |
| 1844 | Jules Sichel describes baggy eyelids and orbital fat herniation, citing 10th-11th century Arabic surgeons. | source |
| 1879 | Ferdinand Hotz publishes a new operation for entropion and trichiasis. | PMID 36023762 |
| 1896 | Ernst Fuchs coins the term "blepharochalasis." | source |
| 1896 | Kotaro Mikamo publishes the first academic paper on constructing the double eyelid fold, Japan. | PMID 12167084 |
| 1899 | Hermann Schmidt-Rimpler publishes "Fetthernien der oberen Augenlider," the first description of herniated upper-eyelid fat. | source |
| 1906 | Charles Conrad Miller publishes the first American description of excision of bag-like eyelid skin folds. | PMID 3055870 |
| 1907 | Miller publishes The Correction of Featural Imperfections, the first US book on cosmetic surgery. | PMID 38809028 |
| 1911 | Frederick Kolle advocates preoperative skin marking to plan eyelid-skin excision. | source |
| 1924 | Julien Bourguet first describes transconjunctival removal of herniated orbital fat. | PMID 1696091 |
| 1925 | Bourguet publishes the first before-and-after photographs of cosmetic lower-eyelid surgery. | PMID 15023804 |
| 1925 | Edmund Spaeth publishes Newer Methods of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery, the first English-language oculoplastic textbook. | PMID 3331916 |
| 1926 | Suzanne Noel publishes a book on cosmetic eyelid and face surgery with extensive before-and-after photography. | PMID 2465731 |
| 1937 | Wendell Hughes devises the tarsoconjunctival flap for lower-eyelid reconstruction. | PMID 10654700 |
| 1951 | Salvador Castanares gives the anatomic basis for blepharoplasty of herniated intraorbital fat. | PMID 14864073 |
| 1954 | Benjamin Sayoc describes non-incisional construction of the Asian supratarsal (double-eyelid) fold. | PMID 13197512 |
| 1955 | Cutler and Beard describe the bridge-flap method for total upper-eyelid reconstruction. | PMID 13218104 |
| 1957 | John Marquis Converse becomes the Lawrence D. Bell Professor of Plastic Surgery at NYU, leading its Institute of Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery. | source |
| 1959 | Richard Berke refines external levator resection for congenital ptosis. | PMID 13616781 |
| 1960 | Byron Smith establishes the first oculoplastic-surgery fellowship, at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. | source |
| 1961 | Fasanella and Servat publish the Fasanella-Servat operation for minimal ptosis. | PMID 13698293 |
| 1964 | D. Ralph Millard Jr. publishes "The Oriental Eyelid and Its Surgical Revision." | PMID 14139306 |
| 1966 | The American Medical Association publishes the first edition of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), standardizing surgical procedure codes. | PMID 24761332 |
| 1969 | Wendell Hughes founds the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS) and serves as its first president. | source |
| 1972 | Thomas Rees defines ectropion as a blepharoplasty complication. | PMID 4555752 |
| 1974 | Jack Sheen describes supratarsal fixation to create a defined upper-eyelid crease in blepharoplasty. | PMID 4415989 |
| 1975 | Jones, Quickert and Wobig establish the aponeurotic-defect theory of acquired ptosis and its surgical cure. | PMID 1156224 |
| 1975 | Putterman and Urist describe Muller's muscle-conjunctival resection for blepharoptosis. | PMID 1156223 |
| 1975 | Rees reports the "dry eye" complication after blepharoplasty. | PMID 1161911 |
| 1975 | Sidney Fox publishes a modified Fasanella-Servat procedure, having coined the term "dermatochalasis." | PMID 1156225 |
| 1977 | Castanares classifies baggy-eyelid deformity by fat compartment. | PMID 850700 |
| 1978 | Tenzel and Stewart describe the semicircular flap for full-thickness eyelid reconstruction. | PMID 733166 |
| 1978 | Dryden and Leibsohn report exposure and repair of the levator aponeurosis during blepharoplasty. | PMID 724220 |
| 1979 | Anderson and Gordy publish the tarsal strip procedure for lower-eyelid laxity. | PMID 508189 |
| 1981 | Ricardo Loeb describes fat-pad sliding and grafting to level lower-eyelid depressions. | PMID 7338007 |
| 1983 | Castanares describes the lateral fat compartment of the lower eyelid. | PMID 6869105 |
| 1987 | Robert Flowers writes on multiracial eyelid and orbital aesthetics. | PMID 3308278 |
| 1989 | David Furnas describes the retaining ligaments of the cheek, explaining festoons and lower-eyelid contour. | PMID 2909050 |
| 1989 | Paul Tessier describes the subperiosteal approach to the orbit and midface. | PMID 2473674 |
| 1993 | Flowers makes canthopexy a routine part of lower blepharoplasty. | PMID 8485945 |
| 1995 | Sam Hamra describes arcus marginalis release, preserving rather than excising lower-eyelid fat. | PMID 7624408 |
| 1996 | William Chen publishes the triangular, trapezoidal and rectangular debulking concept for Asian blepharoplasty. | PMID 8532781 |
| 2000 | Robert Goldberg describes transconjunctival orbital-fat repositioning into a subperiosteal pocket. | PMID 10697189 |
| 2000 | Hester, McCord and Codner report the transblepharoplasty subperiosteal approach to the lower lid and midface. | PMID 10627009 |
| 2002 | Flowers publishes "Asian blepharoplasty," a review of technique and aesthetics. | PMID 19332015 |
| 2003 | McCord describes lateral canthal anchoring. | PMID 12832900 |
| 2020 | The FDA approves Upneeq (oxymetazoline hydrochloride ophthalmic solution 0.1%), the first drug approved for acquired blepharoptosis. | source |
| 2025 | The American Academy of Ophthalmology reports on pharmacologic agents used to assess or correct blepharoptosis. | PMID 40172501 |
| 2026 | A phase 3 study reports six-month efficacy and safety of oxymetazoline 0.1% for acquired blepharoptosis in Japanese patients, marking international expansion of the therapy. | PMID 41961227 |
25 AD-1844
before the name.
Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal
Arab ophthalmologist
Tadhkirat al-Kahhalin (Notebook of the Oculists) gives one of the earliest surviving descriptions of upper-eyelid blepharoplasty, plus entropion and ectropion repair.
Sources · en.wikipedia.org · plasticsurgerykey.com
Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Albucasis)
Arab surgeon
Al-Tasrif systematized operative surgery, including eye and eyelid procedures, and was the standard European surgical text for roughly 500 years.
Source · PMID 6338803
Georg Joseph Beer
Ophthalmologist
First to describe excess upper-eyelid skin in print, 1817, the condition later named blepharochalasis.
Sources · eyewiki.org · en.wikipedia.org
Karl Ferdinand von Graefe
Surgeon
Coined the term "blepharoplastik" (blepharoplasty) in 1818 for eyelid reconstruction after cancer excision.
Sources · en.wikipedia.org · tabanmd.com
Frederic Jules Sichel
Ophthalmologist
Described baggy eyelids and orbital fat herniation in 1844, crediting Arabic surgeons of the 10th and 11th centuries with the earliest surgical relief of the condition.
Source · en.wikipedia.org
1896-1937
the operation gets a literature.
Ferdinand Hotz
Ophthalmologist
Described a new operation for entropion and trichiasis in 1879; the fascial-attachment theory behind it became a basis for later cosmetic eyelid surgery.
Source · PMID 36023762
Ernst Fuchs
Ophthalmologist
Coined the term "blepharochalasis" in 1896 for Beer's eyelid-skin-excess condition.
Source · eyewiki.org
Kotaro Mikamo
Physician
Published the first academic paper describing surgical construction of the double eyelid (supratarsal) fold, 1896.
Source · PMID 12167084
Hermann Schmidt-Rimpler
Ophthalmologist
Published "Fetthernien der oberen Augenlider" in 1899, the first description of herniated upper-eyelid fat as a distinct finding.
Source · plasticsurgerykey.com
Charles Conrad Miller
"Featural" surgeon
Published the first American description of blepharoplasty, excision of bag-like eyelid skin folds, in 1906, followed by the first US book on cosmetic surgery in 1907.
Frederick Strange Kolle
Surgeon and author
Wrote on wrinkled eyelids in his 1911 cosmetic-surgery text and was among the first to advocate preoperative skin marking to plan the amount of eyelid skin to excise.
Source · plasticsurgerykey.com
Julien Bourguet
Surgeon
First to describe transconjunctival removal of herniated orbital fat, 1924, and the first before-and-after photographs of cosmetic lower-eyelid surgery, 1925.
Edmund B. Spaeth
Ophthalmologist
Wrote Newer Methods of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery, 1925, the first English-language textbook devoted to oculoplastic surgery.
Sources · PMID 3331916 · plasticsurgerykey.com
Suzanne Noel
Surgeon
Published a 1926 book on cosmetic eyelid and face surgery with extensive before-and-after photography; the first female surgeon photographed performing blepharoplasty.
Sources · PMID 2465731 · PMID 31637506
Wendell L. Hughes
Ophthalmic plastic surgeon
Devised the tarsoconjunctival flap for lower-eyelid reconstruction, 1937, and founded the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS) in 1969 as its first president.
Sources · PMID 10654700 · asoprs.org
1951-1964
fat, ptosis and the Asian eyelid.
Salvador Castanares
Plastic surgeon
Gave the anatomic basis for blepharoplasty of herniated intraorbital fat, 1951, then classified baggy-eyelid deformity by compartment, 1977.
Benjamin T. Sayoc
Ophthalmologist
Described non-incisional construction of the Asian supratarsal (double-eyelid) fold, 1954.
Source · PMID 13197512
Norman L. Cutler and Clinton Beard
Ophthalmologists
Described the bridge-flap method for total and partial upper-eyelid reconstruction, 1955, still called the Cutler-Beard procedure.
Source · PMID 13218104
John Marquis Converse
Plastic surgeon
Led NYU's Institute of Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery as the Lawrence D. Bell Professor of Plastic Surgery from 1957, integrating oculoplastic reconstruction with craniofacial surgery.
Sources · archives.med.nyu.edu · PMID 3331919
Richard N. Berke
Ophthalmologist
Refined external (skin-incision) levator resection for congenital ptosis, reported 1959.
Source · PMID 13616781
Byron C. Smith
Ophthalmic plastic surgeon
Established the first oculoplastic-surgery fellowship, 1960, at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, training surgeons in eyelid, lacrimal and orbital work.
Source · asoprsfoundation.org
Richard M. Fasanella and Joaquin Servat
Ophthalmologists
Published the Fasanella-Servat operation for minimal ptosis, 1961, still in use.
Source · PMID 13698293
D. Ralph Millard Jr.
Plastic surgeon
Published "The Oriental Eyelid and Its Surgical Revision," 1964, an early systematic description of Asian upper-eyelid surgery for a Western readership.
Source · PMID 14139306
1966-1979
codes, societies and the aponeurosis.
Thomas D. Rees
Plastic surgeon
Defined and reported the major blepharoplasty complications: ectropion, 1972, and the "dry eye" syndrome after blepharoplasty, 1975.
Sources · PMID 4555752 · PMID 1161911
Jack H. Sheen
Plastic surgeon
Described supratarsal fixation to create a defined upper-eyelid crease during blepharoplasty, 1974.
Source · PMID 4415989
Lester T. Jones, Max Quickert and Jerry Wobig
Ophthalmologists
Established the aponeurotic-defect theory of acquired ptosis and its surgical cure by aponeurotic repair, 1975.
Source · PMID 1156224
Arthur M. Putterman and Marvin J. Urist
Ophthalmologists
Described Muller's muscle-conjunctival resection for blepharoptosis, 1975.
Source · PMID 1156223
Sidney A. Fox
Ophthalmologist
Coined the term "dermatochalasis" and published a modified Fasanella-Servat procedure, 1975.
Source · PMID 1156225
Richard R. Tenzel and William B. Stewart
Ophthalmologists
Described the semicircular flap for reconstructing full-thickness eyelid defects, 1978.
Source · PMID 733166
Robert M. Dryden and Jerome Leibsohn
Ophthalmologists
Reported exposure and repair of the levator aponeurosis during blepharoplasty to create a fixed lid crease and treat early ptosis, 1978.
Source · PMID 724220
Richard L. Anderson and Dwight D. Gordy
Ophthalmic plastic surgeons
Published the tarsal strip procedure for lower-eyelid laxity and canthal support, 1979.
Source · PMID 508189
1981-1996
fat preserved, canthus supported, the Asian crease refined.
Ricardo Loeb
Plastic surgeon
Described fat-pad sliding and fat grafting to level depressions of the lower eyelid, 1981.
Source · PMID 7338007
Robert S. Flowers
Plastic surgeon
Wrote on multiracial eyelid and orbital aesthetics, 1987, and made canthopexy a routine part of lower blepharoplasty, 1993.
Sources · PMID 3308278 · PMID 8485945
David W. Furnas
Plastic surgeon
Described the retaining ligaments of the cheek, 1989, explaining lower-eyelid and cheek contour problems including festoons.
Source · PMID 2909050
Paul Tessier
Plastic surgeon
Described the subperiosteal approach to the orbit and midface, 1989, founding craniofacial surgery's influence on eyelid and periorbital rejuvenation.
Source · PMID 2473674
Sam T. Hamra
Plastic surgeon
Described arcus marginalis release with fat preservation, advancing lower-eyelid fat over the orbital rim instead of excising it, 1995.
Source · PMID 7624408
William Pai-Dei Chen
Ophthalmic plastic surgeon
Published the triangular, trapezoidal and rectangular debulking concept for Asian blepharoplasty, 1996.
Source · PMID 8532781
2000-2026
fat repositioned, the first drug.
Robert A. Goldberg
Oculoplastic surgeon
Described transconjunctival orbital-fat repositioning into a subperiosteal pocket, 2000.
Source · PMID 10697189
Clinton D. McCord, T. Roderick Hester and Mark A. Codner
Oculoplastic and plastic surgeons
Reported the transblepharoplasty subperiosteal approach to the lower lid and midface, 2000, then lateral canthal anchoring, 2003.
Sources · PMID 10627009 · PMID 12832900