What are festoons?

Festoons are hammock-shaped areas of loose skin and muscle that hang over the cheek bones. They may be caused by swollen skin in the cheeks or age-related skin laxity, but they have also been linked to chronic allergies and injections of dermal fillers. Festoons develop from loss of muscle tone in the eyelids. As the muscle weakens, the skin of the eyelids slides downward and creates a bulge on the upper midface. Festoons are not to be confused with eye bags. The later are protrusions of orbital fat caused by poor bony support or age-related changes in the eyelid tissue.