Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty)

Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) after care

If your operation is under general anaesthetic, you will be in hospital for one night (some upper eyelid surgery is performed under local anaesthetic and you can go home the same day).
It may be useful to take sunglasses into hospital to wear after the operation, but they must be clean and have no direct contact with the skin around the eyes.
There will be bruising around the eyes, which will last approximately 3 weeks.
There will also be some swelling. Most of the swelling will settle within 2 to 3 weeks – this can be helped by staying upright for the first 4 days and nights, and avoiding too much bending. Resting cool packs over the eyes may help. Avoid rubbing or towelling the eyes.
It is common for the eyes to feel dry and gritty after surgery so eye drops or ointment may be given to you to use at home. Your eyelashes can sometimes stick together after the operation – if they do, ease them apart with a damp cotton wool bud, but avoid disrupting the paper strips over your wounds.
There may be tenderness and lumpiness at the outside corner of your eye. This will settle in a few weeks.
Dissolvable stitches will be in place under the skin around your eyelids. Sometimes it is possible to feel the knot and ends of these for some months, but they do go eventually.
There will be a continuous suture in place on the surface of your eyelids, on top of which will be steri-strips or paper stitches. These will all be removed at your follow-up appointment in a week’s time. It is important to keep the steri-strips or paper stitches clean and dry for the week, so only bathe your eyes with gentle splashing with cooled, boiled water, or by applying eye drops as prescribed in hospital.
Depending on your occupation, you may consider returning to work in two weeks.
Driving should be avoided for two weeks.
Strenuous exercise should be avoided for 4 to 5 weeks. This includes jogging, repeated bending, heavy housework or any activity that increases your blood pressure.
Minor swelling and bruising can be concealed with camouflage make-up once the stitches have been removed and the wounds have sufficiently healed over. This usually takes 10 to 14 days.
Once any visible wounds have healed, sun block should be applied daily over the scars for the next year. Sunglasses should be worn as often as possible until the wounds are fully healed.