Hallo, welcome to our frequent asked questions.
Today I’m answering a very frequently asked question about
upper blepharoplasty, what are the risks of having upper
blepharoplasty or an upper eyelid lift?
And in answering this question, we will talk about
what are the common things that can happen during the recovery.
What are uncommon risks?
What are very rare risks but never less serious risks?
And then we’ll talk about how you can reduce those risks.
For most people eyelid surgery is a very successful surgery
and risks are relatively low.
But we’ll talk about how you can reduce this risks to ensure
that you have a fast and successful surgery.
And then we’ll also talk about factors that may influence
surgery, and we’ll talk through this, in length.
So, my name is Dr. Julian De Silva
and I am a London based Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgeon,
and blepharoplasty is a common procedure
that I perform every day for my patients.
And the information that I’m discussing with you today
is information that I share with my patients on a daily basis.
So, in terms of what are the risks from
eyelid surgery or upper eyelid surgery?
Well, what are common things that can happen, which are
swelling, bruising and occasionally
a degree of numbness in the eyelid.
Well, swelling is a normal part of healing
and every patient has some degree of swelling.
But often this can be the most visible thing
a week after surgery.
And for most patients, 80% to 90% of that swelling will
actually go with the first week in an upper blepharoplasty.
However, there’re measures that can also
be taken to speed that up further.
Bruising, well, from, in terms of treating my patients, less
than 10% patients have bruising from upper blepharoplasty.
However again, there can be measures
that can be taken to reduce that further.
Bruising can be frustrating because often
one week after surgery.
That can be the only true sign that
you’ve had any kind of intervention.
And so, there’re measures that can be taken to reduce that.
And finally in terms of numbness
well, every patient has some degree of numbness
in the upper eyelid after upper blepharoplasty.
And in a way this is a normal part of healing
and does recover completely but it can
take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months to completely resolve.
So, let’s talk also a little bit about uncommon risks.
Uncommon risks includes factors such as dry eyes, and the
majority of patients do not have dry eyes as long as the
measurements are done before the surgery and specific checks
are done in order to, to reduce those risks.
But less than 5% of patients can have a period of dry eye, and
that dryness generally will last a period of weeks.
But rarely can last for a period of months.
There are other additional factors in your medical history that
may increase the chance of dry eyes and its important when
considering eyelid surgery that these are taken to, to account.
And this include previous laser refractive surgery, known
history of dry eyes or certain medical conditions
that can be associated with dry eyes.
So, then another factor that we should consider is discomfort.
And in many patients are worried they may have pain or
discomfort after surgery.
Well, certainly in my patients having upper blepharoplasty,
the great majority of patients have minimal discomfort
after upper blepharoplasty.
And over 50% require no analgesia or
no pain relief after their surgery.
However, everyone is different and there may be a degree of
discomfort the first 24 hours or 48 hours after surgery.
However, this is generally more an ache than, than a serious
pain in the majority of patients.
Other things that are relatively uncommon
are things like eyelids cyst.
And these sometimes can occur after surgery around the eyelids
and this seem to be a tiny little ball
or tiny little cyst in the skin as its healing.
And these are quite remedial with a drop of local anesthetic
and removal of the cyst.
So, let’s move on to rare
but serious consequences of blepharoplasty.
And the most serious consequence of upper blepharoplasty
is a damage to the vision and this is a very rare complication
from upper blepharoplasty surgery.
Certainly in my patients I have never experienced this.
However, these very rare events that are a fraction of 1%, they
do require caution and there measures that I take with every
single patient before the surgery, during the surgery with
surgical technique, and after the surgery
to ensure that none, nothing like this happens.
And generally speaking, if there was severe discomfort or drop
in vision, it would happen very soon enough after the surgery.
And as long as action is taken soon enough after the surgery,
it is something that is quite treatable.
Other things that are relatively rare are scarring.
And the scars from upper blepharoplasty can generally be
hidden in the natural crease of the upper eyelid.
However, less than 1% of the population
can have issues of the scarring.
And although this is relatively rare, factors such as
keloid scarring, well, it could be a factor for certain patients.
And if you, if you personally know that you, you tend to have
more visible scars, then this is certainly something that you
should discuss with your surgeon before surgery.
However, in the majority of patients, the scar can be naturally
hidden in the natural crease of
the upper eyelid to a large extent.
Other factors such as allergy and infection, well, these are
generally very rare after, after upper blepharoplasty.
But precautions can be taken in order
to reduce those chances even further.
Factors such as antibiotics that are given before, during and
after surgery, well, these can reduce
the chance of infection even further.
We’ve talked about common, uncommon and very
rare issues with upper blepharoplasty.
A further consideration is the expectations and, all of us
have a degree of asymmetry in our faces.
And most people have a slightly smaller side and slightly
larger side, and although with upper blepharoplasty, some of
those asymmetries may be reduced.
It’s fair to say that it’s not possible to complete eyelid
surgery and have perfect symmetry after the surgery.
And this certainly goes with more complex
surgery such as revision surgery.
As in these cases, there will be more scarring
and changes in their natural anatomy.
So, let’s now talk about what measures you can take in order
to reduce these risks from undergoing upper blepharoplasty.
And what you can do to ensure that you have the fastest
possible recovery and the best possible result and reduce
these risks as far as possible.
So, perhaps the most important factor in terms of reducing
risks is the surgical technique and choosing your surgeon.
And so, I would encourage you to do research when choosing
your surgeon in order to ensure this.
And would encourage you to ask your surgeon
about the surgical technique involved.
About the potential risks or downside of surgery and what
measures can be taken in order to reduce those risks.
And it’s fair to say that there is no surgeon who’s practicing
blepharoplasty that has no complications.
And so, it’s a question of how the surgery is performed and
what measures your surgeon is going to take to ensure that
those risks are small as possible?
And it’s fair to say in upper blepharoplasty, most patients are
very happy and the surgery is very successful from surgery.
However, there’re measures that can be taken in order to
reduce these risks as far as possible in order to ensure that
you have a successful result.
Other measures that are important are your general health.
And certainly there’re certain medical conditions that can be
associated with higher risks from surgery.
And so, for example having a high blood pressure
or borderline blood pressure.
Well, it’s absolutely key that your blood pressure is
controlled before the surgery to ensure the risks are minimal.
Other factors such as dry eyes or having previous laser
refractive surgery and there’re other factors as well.
Well, it’s important that these are taken in consideration
before surgery and it’s in such patients I do additional tests
to test tear function before the surgery to ensure that you
don’t have issues such as dry eye after the surgery.
Other factors that are important are avoiding certain
medication or herbal medicines before and after surgery.
And I gave all patients written instruction over what should
be avoided, to ensure safety in this way.
If you’ve had previous surgery and undergoing revision surgery,
because there’ll be some scar tissue
from the previous surgery.
There will be some change
in their anatomy from previous surgery.
And so, there, there is a relatively higher chance
or higher risks associated undergoing revision surgery.
And there’re measures that can be taken to reduce this and
these are factors that should be discussed with your surgeon.
In summary we’ve talked about a number
of things regarding risks in upper blepharoplasty.
We’ve talked about common factors that can occur during
the recovery, such as swelling and occasionally bruising.
We’ve talked about less common factors or less common risks,
and we’ve also talked about how to reduce those.
And we’ve also talked about very serious events that can
occur with eyelid surgery and how this can be reduced.
And we’ve talked about factors that are most important in
terms of a successful outcome from surgery including surgical
technique, your past medical history and
following your doctor’s instructions.
And following your doctor’s instructions before having
surgery and after surgery are very important in terms of
ensuring a fast recovery and a successful outcome.
I hope this information has been useful for you,
thank you for watching.
If you would like further information about having
blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery, please have
a look at Dr. De Silva’s book.
This is a comprehensive patient guide with over 250 pages
including color illustrations and photographs, including all
commonly asked questions and fears that patients have.
This is available through either
Dr. Julian De Silva’s website or by searching on Amazon.