A new study has revealed the main reason for lower eyelids sagging with age, putting an end to much speculation and theorising.
Scientists at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have found that the primary culprit is fat expansion in the eye socket.
The team used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging on 40 people between the ages of 12 and 80 to find out what happens to the face with age and found that the amount of fat in the eye socket increases.
The discovery, which is detailed in the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, suggests that cosmetic surgery to address sagging eyelids - a procedure known as
blepharoplasty - should include fat excision.
Study co-author Dr Timothy Miller, professor and chief of plastic surgery at the Geffen School, commented: "Our findings may change the way some plastic surgeons treat baggy eyes.
"Our study showed that a component of a patient's blepharoplasty procedure should almost routinely involve fat excision."
