Surgery
Blepharoplasty is performed under local anaesthesia combined with light intravenous anaesthesia. You will be awake but insensitive to pain. The surgery lasts between one and three hours. Usually, the surgeon takes care of the lower eyelids and then of the upper eyelids under the eyebrows. The surgeon peels the tegument off the underlying muscle, and then he/she removes the fat pouches on the lower and upper eyelids. To end the operation, the surgeon cuts away the excess tegument and stitches it up.If on the lower eyelids there are only fat pouches and no excess tegument, one can perform a transconjunctival blepharoplasty with inner lip incision.
Post-surgery hospitalisation
After blepharoplasty a one day hospitalisation is necessary in order for the patient to stay under the qualified medical staff supervision. During this period antibiotics are taken by the patient on a prophylactic basis and ice bags are applied locally.Post-surgery recovery
The stitches will be removed after 3 or 4 days, as this can be easily sorted out by the patient's family GP. The oedema and the ecchymoses usually persist by the end of the first week. Most of patients can go back to work in approximately ten days.For two weeks, the patient must avoid straining activities which bring on high blood pressure, which might lead to bleeding. As in the first months there is a slight sensitivity to sun and wind, we recommend that the patient should wear protection glasses.
The scars may look slightly pinkish for a period of 6 to 9 months, after that they turn into a very thin white line.