Hallo, welcome to our frequently asked questions.
And today I’m answering a frequently asked question
about blepharoplasty, when can I return to work
after having upper blepharoplasty.
And in answering this question,
we’ll look at what is the common recovery time
after upper blepharoplasty, how your profession
may influence that.
How will you look one week after blepharoplasty?
And finally, what measures you can do
in order to enhance your recovery
or speed up your recovery to ensure
that you can go back to work looking as normal
as possible in the soonest amount of time.
My name is Dr. Julian De Silva
and I’m a London based Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgeon.
And blepharoplasty is the most common procedure
that I complete for patients on a daily basis.
And the information that I’m discussing
with you today is information
that I share with my patients frequently.
So, in terms of what is the average recovery time
after having upper blepharoplasty?
For most people you only need to take one week off work
before you can return to most normal activities.
And so, there’re some exceptions to this
and certain professions where you are more in front of
high definition cameras, high definition video,
certainly in professions where
you take part in modelling or camera shoots.
Well, I would certainly allow a little additional time
to allow a little further swelling
and that, that degree of swelling to resolve
before having high definition shoots.
But for most people one week
is an adequate recovery time for upper blepharoplasty.
If you have a profession where HD cameras
are required and there is more,
it’s more necessarily to allow more like two weeks
or a maximum of 6 weeks in order to perform
those kind of professional activities.
How are you going to look one week after the surgery?
Well, the 3 common aspects with any kind of surgery
particularly upper blepharoplasty are swelling
and generally 80% to 90% of the swelling
will resolve in the first week after surgery.
And so, there’ll be some residual swelling
even at one week, however the great majority
of the swelling will have resolved.
Bruising, well, this is somewhat technique
dependent but certainly in my patients,
less than 10% of patients have bruising
and most bruising is relatively mild
and can be covered with camouflage
or concealer makeup.
But for most patients bruising is not significant
and it’s relatively minor,
and generally will resolve within a 2 week period.
However in, after one week it can be covered
with concealer.
Now in terms of the scar,
well, the scar will be a little bit pink
and a little bit lumpy bumpy,
and this is normal for a scar after upper blepharoplasty.
However, depending on how the technique is performed,
the scar can be largely hidden in a natural crease
of the eyelid that actually makes it
very difficult to be seen even a week after the surgery.
And so, although rarely scars can be more noticeable if
meticulous care is taken with the surgical technique.
Generally the scars are relatively discrete
and difficult to be seen even one week after surgery.
So, what measures can you take in order to enhance your
recovery and speed up your healing?
Well, there’re certain measures
that are important before surgery
and I certainly give all my patients
quite detailed instructions on certain medicines
and herbal medicines that are best avoided before surgery.
And these include things, things that thin the blood.
And these can be common things
such as aspirin which you might take for headache.
Or maybe more herbal type medicines
such as fish oils which should be avoided
for a period of two weeks before
and after surgery to ensure the chance
of having any bruising is as small as possible.
In addition if you have other medical conditions
such as high blood pressure, well,
it’s very important that this is controlled
and within normal limits when you have eyelid surgery.
In addition to this, surgical technique
is extremely important
in terms of enhancing your recovery.
And the certain measures that can be taken before
and during and after the surgery.
But in terms of the surgical technique
taking care regarding the position of the scar
and hiding that in the crease of the eyelid.
Meticulous care in order to ensure
that there is minimal or no bruising
at the time of the surgery.
And then other measures such as
using more state of the art technology such as
biotechnology and PRP your own growth factors
in order to heal he body faster.
Well, these kind of measures will reduce
the chance of bruising and enhance your healing
in a shorter period.
What can you do after surgery?
Well, it’s very important
to follow your doctor’s instructions
and I find the patients who follow these,
follow instructions and take things
easy immediately after the surgery
such as avoiding exercise, avoid going to the gym.
Well, this is an investment of time
and patients who follow these instructions
have an enhanced recovery.
So, in summary we’ve talked about
what is the average recovery time
after upper blepharoplasty?
We’ve talked about what you are likely to look like
one week after surgery?
And we’ve also talked about measures that you can take in
order to enhance your recovery and make sure you have the
fastest possible recovery.
I hope this information has been useful for you,
thank you for watching.