I had eyelid surgery 5 weeks ago and my scars are still prominent even with makeup. I have followed recovery instructions and use an oitment my doctor had me start 5 days after surgery to hasten healing.
My scars are not only a very visible and long redline, they also are thick and raised -- very promenent when I close my eyes and touch my scar. The doctor said this is no problem, such evident scaring is normal at 5 weeks. However, I have read in more than a few articles and websites that eyelide scars should be not much noticeable by this time.
Am I impatient? Or, if red, thick texture lines at 5 weeks is not usual, what should I do? This is my second eyelid surgery. Does that make a difference?
While all patients scar differently, most upper eyelid scars heal very well. In general scars in most places tend to look fairly red and inflammed at about the 6-8 week mark, and continue to mature for up to a year, somtimes longer. I would tell you to wait several months before considering doing anything else. The thickness of the scars should also improve during this time. It should not make much of a difference that this is your second eyelid surgery.
Don't panic. Upper eyelid incision scars usually heal beautifully with barely perceptible lines. Occasionally, these incisions will take longer to heal, especially if large amounts of skin were removed or the incision was extended farther to the outside to remove more skin.
The skin involved in healing is thicker in these situations and can take longer and remain thicker for a longer period of time. All this being said, what I usually have my patients do is to massage the scars gently 3-4 times per day and try to avoid using makeup or cosmetics that may create further irritation, redness, and swelling.
I also offer my patients pulsed-dye laser treatments combined with some injections to speed the softening, flattening, and redness reduction of their scars. Time alone will help clear the scars, but these treatments can speed things along.
Unless you have an infection, you should be patient as scars of the uppr lids are usually the most imperceptible. Sometimes, if large amounts of skin is removed, there can be a noticeable transition between thicker skin of the upper part of the lid and the thinner skin of the lower part of the lid.
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