Upper Eyelid Surgery
Upper eyelid rejuvenation can be performed under local anaesthetic as an “office-based” procedure. It is an excellent procedure to remove redundant excess upper lid skin and brighten up the eyes in a natural “un-operated” appearing way.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
Upper eyelid surgery gives a freshness to your appearance that other people may find hard to place. It is not uncommon for friends and acquaintances to comment on how well you look afterwards, without being able to work out what has changed! You will look less tired and have brighter eyes after the procedure.
Anaesthetic
General
Procedure Length
1 hour
Facility Stay
Day Case
Cost
From £4100
Downtime
Light exercise can resume after 4-6 weeks
Available in-house at Purity Bridge
Yes
Anaesthetic
General
Procedure Length
1 hour
Facility Stay
Day Case
Cost
From £4100
Downtime
Light exercise can resume after 4-6 weeks
Available in-house at Purity Bridge
Yes
The surgery takes about 45-minutes.
You will have some swelling and bruising afterwards, which will fade after 1-2 weeks following surgery and the scars heal quickly. The stitches are removed at 5-7 days after surgery. Your eyes may feel dry and gritty initially, but this usually resolves after a short time. Therefore lubricating ointment will be prescribed to stop your eyes from drying out.
Rest is advised initially, and you should sleep with 2 or 3 pillows initially so your head is elevated – this will help the swelling resolve. Most people are ready to go out and return to work after 7-10 days. Strenuous activity should be avoided for at least 4-weeks.
Contact lenses should be avoided for 2 weeks after surgery, as these will dry the eyes out. Reading, television and computer usage may also dry out the eyes, so should be kept to a minimum. Make-up on the upper eyelids or eyelashes should not be used until at least 2-weeks after the surgery.
The most important complication to be aware of is bleeding post-operatively. Small amounts of bleeding may be stopped with pressure on the eyelid. Rarely you may need to return to the operating theatre. The most serious, but fortunately extremely rare, complication relates to bleeding that occurs behind the eyeball. This is a surgical emergency, which requires certain medicines and an urgent return to the operating theatre – if not attended to as an emergency, it may rarely lead to blindness (the risk of this complication has fortunately been estimated to be as rare as 1 in 40,000).
Scars can occasionally take a while to settle down, and may benefit from regular massaging post-operatively. Infection occurs infrequently, as do small whiteheads around the scar, which can be usually be removed in the outpatient clinic.
Other complications that are reported include too much skin being removed, resulting in difficulty in closing the eye after the surgery – fortunately this is rare.
