Blepharoplasty (Lower Eyelid Surgery) in Utah

In almost no other area of Facial Plastic Surgery is decision-making as crucial as it is in cosmetic lower eyelid surgery. The skin is among the thinnest on the body, and the right plan matters as much as the surgery itself. Before you choose a surgeon for your lower blepharoplasty, ask yourself these three key questions: 1) Technique, 2) Experience, 3) Leadership in the field.

1. Technique: Will your surgeon look beyond the "bags" to the hollow and the skin?

Typically in our early to mid-40s, the fat pads of the lower eyelid push forward into "bags," and just a few years later the bone beneath the eye (the orbital rim) begins to hollow out. The result is what Steven Mobley, MD, calls a "double convexity": a bulge in the lower eyelid, a subtle hollow below it, and then the cheek: the classic tired, older-looking eyes no one wants. For some patients, removing the "bags," with or without a little skin, is all that is needed. When Dr. Mobley believes it will give you the best final result, he will also suggest softening the hollows with cosmetic fat transfer and improving the quality of the skin with a peel or laser. His Contour Sculpting looks at all three:

• Step 1, Fat removal: just enough of the bulging fat is removed, never so much that the eye looks hollow.
• Step 2, Fat replacement: when suggested, a few cc of your own fat, refined into a smooth, gel-like graft, are placed along the orbital rim to soften the sunken hollow. Because it's your own living tissue, the fat that takes is there to stay.
• Step 3, Treat the crepe-paper-like skin: when suggested, a chemical peel or the Lumenis UltraPulse CO2 laser tightens and refines the delicate lower eyelid skin, so the eyelid and cheek flow together in one smooth curve again.

Together, you and Dr. Mobley agree on your expertly curated plan. Younger patients, often in their 30s and 40s, usually do best through a tiny incision hidden inside the pink of the lower eyelid, with no stitches to remove and often a chemical peel instead of a laser. Slightly older patients usually do best through a fine incision just beneath the lashes, which allows Dr. Mobley to tighten the muscle while removing the puffy "bags" at the same time. His guiding philosophy: never ask too much of any one step. Don't take out too much fat. Don't replace too much fat. Don't take out too much skin. Don't leave too much skin behind. Each step reflects years of refined technique and contributes just its share, and the result looks like you, only more rested.

Stitch technique matters, too, especially when the incision is beneath the lashes. In Dr. Mobley's experience, dissolving stitches, which the body breaks down through its own inflammatory response, tend to keep incisions red much longer, so he takes the time to close with fine removable stitches that come out at about 7 days. At the outer corner, he places the tiny extension of the incision precisely in line with your natural crow's feet. That precision takes extra time, time your eyes deserve, and it makes the final healed incision very difficult to spot, even up close. That is the point of great technique: we simply want your friends to wonder why you look so good!

2. Experience: Does your surgeon have the years of judgment to curate the right plan from the beginning?

The most important decision in lower eyelid surgery is made before surgery begins: the plan. If the right plan isn't curated from the beginning, even beautifully performed surgery can't deliver the strongest result. For more than two decades in Salt Lake City, Steven Mobley, MD, has performed lower eyelid surgery on men and women, on its own and together with upper eyelid surgery, facelifts, neck lifts, brow lifts and cosmetic fat transfer. That experience is what tells him when removing the "bags" is enough and when adding fat or skin refinement will take your result from good to great. Eyelid surgery is one of the fastest-growing parts of his practice, and with 24 years of serving his patients behind him and many more ahead, he operates every week at Millcreek Surgical Suite in Salt Lake City, an AAAASF-accredited surgical suite.

Dr. Mobley is proud to be on staff at St. Mark's Hospital. Readers of The Park Record voted him Park City's Best for 10 years, he has been recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor, and he has been featured on Good Morning America, Inside Edition, People and Cosmopolitan. Many Utahns still remember him as the former ABC4 TV health reporter on Good Things Utah.

3. Leadership in the field: Has your surgeon been invited to national meetings to teach other Facial Plastic Surgeons?

Throughout his career, Steven Mobley, MD, has helped shape how other surgeons approach eyelid surgery: he co-authored a published review on the anatomy of the eyelids for Facial Plastic Surgery Clinics of North America, taught University of Utah surgery residents, and has been invited by the organizers of five national and international meetings, including the annual meeting of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the Global Aesthetics Conference, to teach his techniques for male eyelid surgery. He has delivered more than 7 lectures on eyelid surgery and, over his career, an eye-opening 85-plus lectures in all, and has written more than 50 published works, including peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in the textbooks surgeons train on.

Dr. Mobley devoted 11 years to the University of Utah School of Medicine as a full-time faculty member, earning tenure as Associate Professor of Surgery and serving as Head of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Residency Program Director. He has been invited to lecture at seven academic medical centers in the United States and Germany, including Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, the University of Arizona and the University of Marburg.

Dr. Mobley and the Mobley MD practice have given more than $100,000 in charitable surgery and donations, mostly here in Utah: free ear pinning surgery for school-age children (K–12) who are bullied about their ears and whose families could not otherwise afford the operation, Raise the Future's work with Utah foster youth, and Folds of Honor and Tunnel to Towers. As a second-generation surgeon, he was raised to serve his patients and give back to the community they share.

Why patients choose Dr. Mobley for lower eyelid surgery

Technique, experience, and leadership in the field. When you choose Steven Mobley, MD, for your lower blepharoplasty in Salt Lake City, Utah, you choose a Facial Plastic Surgeon who operates on the entire face, not just the eyes, with over 24 years of judgment to curate the right plan from the beginning: one who removes the "bags" and, when needed, restores the hollow and refines the skin with his Contour Sculpting approach, who has published on cosmetic surgery for men, and who has been invited to teach his eyelid techniques, including eyelid surgery for men, to fellow surgeons at national and international meetings.

Why do people travel hundreds of miles for Dr. Mobley?

Lower eyelid patients come to Steven Mobley, MD, in Salt Lake City from Lindon, Provo, Orem, Lehi, Ogden, Layton, Cottonwood Heights, Draper, Sandy and Park City, drive in from Idaho, Montana, Jackson, Wyoming and Reno, Nevada, and fly in from across the country, from California and Texas to the East Coast. His patients include politicians, sports figures and other nationally known individuals, along with business owners, busy parents and doctors. Our Patient Care Team helps out-of-town patients plan a comfortable, discreet week in Salt Lake City.