Blepharoplasty, or eyelid surgery, is a cosmetic surgery operation to tighten the soft tissue around the eye and is used to help remove hooded or drooping eyelids and eye bags. This operation is chosen for both cosmetic and health reasons.
Why choose Blepharoplasty?
As you age, your skin becomes less elastic and the muscles used to keep skin taut weaken, especially the delicate skin around your eyes, causing you to look older and impair peripheral vision. Droopy or hooded eye surgery can reduce or eliminate these vision problems, and help you look younger and more alert.
What does Blepharoplasty involve?
This procedure can be completed under local or general anaesthetic and takes between 2-3 hours, depending on which eyelids require surgery. After making an incision in the eyelid, your surgeon will remove the excess skin, fat or muscle and then close the incision using very fine stitching. When operating on the upper eyelids, this scar will be hidden by the natural crease on your eyelid.
Thin, sticky strips called suture strips will be applied to support the eyelids after surgery. These are usually removed up to a week later.
If the surgery is completed under local anaesthetic, you should be able to go home the same day or after one night hospital stay. Under general anaesthetic, you will need to wait until the effects of the anaesthetic have worn off. You will also need to return around a week after the operation to have any stitches removed.
Bruising and swelling can get worse a day or so after surgery, however, after 10-14 days the bruising should start fading and around this time you may feel confident enough to return to normal activities, although you should avoid strenuous exercise or vigorous activities for a few weeks.
Are there any complications?
As with all operations, care should be taken immediately after the procedure. Bruising and swelling are expected, however, these should reduce after a couple of weeks. After the operation you may also experience blurred or double vision, watering eyes, light sensitivity or scarring. These will improve over the following days and weeks.
To avoid irritating the eyes, for a few weeks you should avoid smoky atmospheres, contact lenses and rubbing the eyes. You may be advised to sleep with extra pillows, apply cool compresses to help with swelling or to wear sunglasses to help protect your skin from wind and sun.
Your surgeon will discuss these and other concerns you may have before surgery.