Eyelid surgery before and after recovery

There is a difference between recovery between upper and lower eyelid surgery because lower eyelid surgery is more involved and requires more than simple skin excision.

For upper eyelid surgery, you will have stitches in for 1 week. I use a subcuticular suture which simply slides out at this time. Bruising is typically minimal and on average there is very little pain.

You can apply make up in 10 days. For lower eyelid surgery, sutures are also removed at 7 days. Bruising is typically mild to moderate, with mild discomfort. Makeup can be applied at 2 weeks.

Patients undergoing revision lower eyelid surgery or those that require more complicated procedures such as tarsal strips will experience a longer recovery. (Stephen Prendiville, MD, Fort Myers Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Eyelid surgery recovery varies

Eyelid surgery varies as the procedures can be simple or more complicated. Upper eyelid surgery is usually much lower impact than lower eyelid surgery. Still patients tend to recover quickly unless they had issues with their eyes beforehand (such as dry eyes.)

Most patients are back to work within a few days to a week as long as they do not have really active jobs. (John P. Di Saia, MD, Orange Plastic Surgeon)

Blepharoplasty Healing

In general, eyelid surgery healing is a week to 10 days. All the bruising is gone within three weeks. Most patients take a week off work if upper and lower eyelids are done together.

Eyelid surgery blepharoplasty before and after recovery

If only lower lids are done through an inside eyelid approach, three days off work is enough. There is essentially no pain following this surgery. (Robert M. Wald, Jr., MD, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)

Recovery time for eyelid surgery is about a week

The average recovery time after the Blepharoplasty procedure is about 7-10 days. The healing process is different for every patient, but the swelling and bruising should resolve during this period of time.

Smokers are at greater risk of slower wound healing. It is recommended to take one week from work and most of the patients after 7 days are ready to resume their daily activities.

It is important to follow your surgeon’s recommendations and instruction as far as taking prescribed pain medication and taking care of the wounds.

It is important that the surgical incisions are not subjected to excessive force, swelling, abrasion or motion during the time of healing. (Gregory Turowski, MD, PhD, FACS, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)

No anesthesia eyelid lift

The recovery time for eye lid surgeries varies from person to person. It is usually some what from one to two weeks. However, I have noticed that recovery time gets cut down to half once major anesthesia is not used. Anesthesia cause a significant amount of swelling and bruising.

In our practice we have eliminated the use of anesthesia for most of the face plastic surgeries. The only problem is that there are not many plastic surgeons that are able to do all types of eyelid surgery without anesthesia. (Payman Simoni, MD, Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon)

In many patients, about 80% of the swelling and bruising is resolved by 7-10 days after surgery. The last 20% gradually dissipates over the following 4-8 weeks. 2 weeks is a good amount of time to take off from work, but you can go back after 1 week if you’re not too concerned about people noticing that you’ve had some surgery. (Jonathan Hoenig, MD, Beverly Hills Oculoplastic Surgeon)