18th century English writer, Samuel Richardson, once said, “Where words are restrained, the eyes often talk a great deal”. And we hear people saying that eyes are the windows to the soul. So, all of us are pretty sure that our eyes carry great importance in people’s eye to judge our personalities. Have you ever thought that what people judge about you if you carry aging signs that give you a tired, old and anguish appearance?
Luckily or unluckily, eyes show the early signs of aging easily. Wrinkles and fine lines around eyes and droopy eyelids are some signs of aging that you easily seen in elderly people around you. Eyelid surgery aims to correct the droopiness and sagginess of eyelids by removing or repositioning of eyelid fat and skin. It can be a functional surgery or a cosmetic surgery.
The procedure
Eyelid surgery is performed under local anesthesia and sedation. The surgeon makes an incision along the natural skin line of the eyelid and either repositions or removes fat cells and skin from the eyelid. Surrounding muscles and tendons may also be reinforced. The complexity of the surgery decides how longer it would take but usually takes in between 1 to 3 hours.
The surgeon can perform following procedures along with blepharoplasty:
- Face lift
- Brow lift
- Forehead lift
- Botox
- Dermal and fat fillers
- Laser skin resurfacing
- Skin tightening
Recovery period
Eyelid surgery recovery may take 2 weeks or longer. Instructions are given by the surgeon and painkillers are prescribed to relieve pain. How long the recovery may take is determined by multiple factors like
- Whether surgery is performed on one eyelid or both the eyelids
- How efficient the person’s healing ability is
- How often the person uses ice pads on eyelids
- Whether or not head is kept elevated while sleeping
- What medicines are used before and after the surgery
See how the recovery process goes day by day after surgery:
- Swelling and bruising are common side effects of the surgery and are temporary. Keeping ice pads on eyelids help minimizing them quickly. Sometimes eye drops are prescribed to alleviate pain and preventing eyes from infections.
- Stitches are usually removed after two days of surgery. The eyes appear discolor and swollen for ten days and may feel tight or stiff. Eyes should be kept lubricated through exercises.
- At the third day post-op the patients are usually advised to keep lukewarm eye pads to provide comfort. Wearing dark eye glasses is also recommended to save eyes from irritation due to wind and sun exposure.
- Usually after the surgery patients feel excessive tearing, light sensitivity and blurred vision. The white part of the eyes may turn red. These issues resolve within the two weeks of the surgery.
- Contact lenses must be avoided until eyes heal completely. The surgeon can guide the suitable time for lenses.
- Watching TV or reading paper is not prohibited after 2-3 days. However, continuously watching TV or reading may cause tearing so, do not do it continuously and allow eyes to rest.
- Exercise and bending at the waist must be avoided.
- The surgery leaves scars but usually they are hidden increases or natural lines and fade over time. 18th century English writer, Samuel Richardson, once said, “Where words are restrained, the eyes often talk a great deal”. And we hear people saying that eyes are the windows to the soul. So, all of us are pretty sure that our eyes carry great importance in people’s eye to judge our personalities. Have you ever thought that what people judge about you if you carry aging signs that give you a tired, old and anguish appearance?
Luckily or unluckily, eyes show the early signs of aging easily. Wrinkles and fine lines around eyes and droopy eyelids are some signs of aging that you easily seen in elderly people around you. Eyelid surgery aims to correct the droopiness and sagginess of eyelids by removing or repositioning of eyelid fat and skin. It can be a functional surgery or a cosmetic surgery.
The procedure
Eyelid surgery is performed under local anesthesia and sedation. The surgeon makes an incision along the natural skin line of the eyelid and either repositions or removes fat cells and skin from the eyelid. Surrounding muscles and tendons may also be reinforced. The complexity of the surgery decides how longer it would take but usually takes in between 1 to 3 hours.
The surgeon can perform following procedures along with blepharoplasty:
- Face lift
- Brow lift
- Forehead lift
- Botox
- Dermal and fat fillers
- Laser skin resurfacing
- Skin tightening
Recovery period
Eyelid surgery recovery may take 2 weeks or longer. Instructions are given by the surgeon and painkillers are prescribed to relieve pain. How long the recovery may take is determined by multiple factors like
- Whether surgery is performed on one eyelid or both the eyelids
- How efficient the person’s healing ability is
- How often the person uses ice pads on eyelids
- Whether or not head is kept elevated while sleeping
- What medicines are used before and after the surgery
See how the recovery process goes day by day after surgery:
- Swelling and bruising are common side effects of the surgery and are temporary. Keeping ice pads on eyelids help minimizing them quickly. Sometimes eye drops are prescribed to alleviate pain and preventing eyes from infections.
- Stitches are usually removed after two days of surgery. The eyes appear discolor and swollen for ten days and may feel tight or stiff. Eyes should be kept lubricated through exercises.
- At the third day post-op the patients are usually advised to keep lukewarm eye pads to provide comfort. Wearing dark eye glasses is also recommended to save eyes from irritation due to wind and sun exposure.
- Usually after the surgery patients feel excessive tearing, light sensitivity and blurred vision. The white part of the eyes may turn red. These issues resolve within the two weeks of the surgery.
- Contact lenses must be avoided until eyes heal completely. The surgeon can guide the suitable time for lenses.
- Watching TV or reading paper is not prohibited after 2-3 days. However, continuously watching TV or reading may cause tearing so, do not do it continuously and allow eyes to rest.
- Exercise and bending at the waist must be avoided.
- The surgery leaves scars but usually they are hidden increases or natural lines and fade over time.