Austin Upper Eyelid Surgery

Upper eyelid surgery is one of the most common procedures in facial plastic surgery. It is a very rewarding procedure since the benefits can be very significant with relatively little cost and inconvenience to the patient. Please see below for a discussion on how brow lift and upper eyelid relate.

As we age, the skin in the eyelids lose its elasticity and becomes stretched resulting in a flap of skin. This flap of skin may start to “crawl out your eyelashes” to the point that it obscures vision and causes fatigue as you strain to hold the eye open. The heaviness of tissues often gives people the impression that you are tired, old, angry, stern, un-inviting, or similar. It also obscures the brightness of the eyes giving a dull look to the eye. On occasion, young people will have exceedingly full upper eyelids that may also benefit from the surgery. The surgery nearly always includes removal of some of the skin of the upper eyes and may also include trimming/reshaping of the underlying fat and muscle.

The procedure itself takes about 30 minutes. Many patients choose to have it done under local anesthesia only because of the simplicity of doing it this way, but most choose sedation for the sake of putting their minds at ease. If local anesthesia is chosen, expect it to hurt for about 5 seconds on each eyelid as the anesthetic is infiltrated into the tissue.

Recovery from this surgery is typically well-tolerated. To minimize bruising and swelling, we use great care and patience. We use a radio frequency tissue cutting device that seals the microscopic vessels as we operate, which is a key factor in keeping bruising to a minimum. There is typically no pain during the recovery. Makeup may be worn a day after the sutures are removed. The day after surgery, you may resume sedentary activities such as driving and moving about. Some patients will even return to work a day or two after the surgery if they have desk jobs. Exercise is resumed a week after surgery and gradually ramped up to 100% by 2 or 3 weeks.

Complications of upper eyelid surgery include dry eye, injury to the eye, asymmetry, excessive bleeding, poor scar, and infection. Dry eye is the most common complication but typically resolves in weeks or months. Patients with dry eye conditions need to consider this before surgery and may choose to be more conservative or simply forgo the procedure.