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Can Eyelid Surgery Be Done Without Anesthesia?

Can bleph eyelid surgery be done without anesthesia? If so, how does it work?

Asked 41 months ago by Carole one in graham nc

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anesthesia

Eyelid surgery and anesthesia

Typically most eyelid surgery is performed under local anesthesia. This is the same type of anesthesia that your dentist uses. If a more complex procedure is being performed, we can use local anesthesia with IV sedation or general anesthesia.

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Kami K. Parsa, MD

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Local vs sedation vs general

I'm assuming you are asking about which anesthetic options you have, not whether or not local anesthesia is needed. Almost all doctors in this country will use a local anesthetic while performing any blephaorplasty surgery, for the reasons listed in the posts below. Local anesthesia - Almost any surgery can be done under local anesthesia. Upper blepharoplasty alone, with or without remodeling of the fat, can be performed under local anesthesia. The patient is completely aware that... more

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Brent Moelleken, MD

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Eyelid surgery without anesthesia would be intolerably painful

Eyelid surgery or for that matter any surgery would be too painful to perform without any anesthesia. I suspect that you meant to ask whether eyelid surgery could be performed while you are completely awake under a local anesthetic alone. This would be comparable to having a cavity filled by your dentist with an injection of the local anesthetic in your gum. In the case of blephroplasty or eyelid surgery, local anesthetic alone would suffice but I wouldn't recommend it. Patients undergoing... more

David A. Ross, MD

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Don't pass on the local anesthesia!

Hi Carole, Upper and lower eyelid surgery is usually performed in my office under anesthesia. Local anesthesia with "adrenaline" is injected just under the skin about 5 to 10 minutes prior to the treatment. The only exception is if there is excessive fat pad protrusion in the lower lids, then I prefer having the patient under sedation anesthesia. Choose your surgeon carefully. Good luck. Dr. P

Michael A. Persky, MD

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

Local anesthesia is my routine for eyelid surgery

Local anesthesia is my general routine for blepharoplasty. The local anesthesia injections in the eyelids are not painless, but relatively low pain. Some patients desire a little oral or IV sedation which is always a possibility.

York Jay Yates, MD

Salt Lake City Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Local anesthesia preferred for blepharoplasty

Upper eyelid blepharoplasty can be safely performed under local anesthesia in most patients. The preoperative workup of a patient for blepharoplasty is important in assessing the anesthetic and surgical risks of a patient. Your surgeon should be qualified in the surgical and perioperative managment of patients undergoing surgery. Upper eyelid blepharoplasty can be performed under general anesthesia and conscious sedation, however, local anesthesia with or without an anxiolytic is preferred. more

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD

Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon

Eyelid surgery can be performed without general anesthesia.

Eyelid surgery can be performed without general anesthesia. It is reasonable to undergo upper eyelid blepharoplasty under straight local anesthesia. One can also perform some types of lower lid blepharoplasty procedures under local anesthesia as well. For some more aggressive procedures, patients will benefit from some sort of sedation or general anesthesia.

Sanjay Grover MD

Orange County Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Blepharoplasty with valium and lidocaine

I have a plastic surgeon who does these in my office and uses 5 mg of valium and local anesthesia. His patients are very pleased and are driven home by a friend or spouse. I have watched him do this in many patients and I don't perceive them to have any discomfort whatsoever! Dr. Raffy Karamanoukian (disclosure - my brother) also does these in his offices. I think it is well tolerated. As a heart surgeon myself, I have done coronary bypass surgery on a dozen people who had eyelid surgery... more

Hratch Karamanoukian, MD

Buffalo General Surgeon

It could - but you wouldn't want it

Some form of anesthesia is needed to do any kind of surgery. There are generally three levels of anesthesia - local, sedation, and general. Local is similar to what most dentists will administer. It involves injecting numbing medicine at the area to be operated on. Sedation involves some sort of medication which alters a person's state of consciousness. In general sedation will not require a breathing tube and is fairly easy to rebound from. General anesthesia is what is thought about for... more

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D.J. Verret, MD

Dallas Facial Plastic Surgeon

Eyelid Surgery without General Anesthesia

Certain types of eyelid rejuvination can be done with only local anesthesia. More complex and deeper procedures involving fat or muscle work require sedation or general anesthesia. Local anesthesia is given with an injection (usually Lidocaine). No surgery on the body can be done without at least local anesthesia. Upper and lower eyelid blepharoplasty where only skin needs to be removed can be done under local. Look in the mirror and see if your upper eyelid skin appears to be excessive.... more

Richard W. Westreich, MD

Manhattan Facial Plastic Surgeon

Eyelid Surgery without Anesthesia?

Thank you for your question. I do not think that any surgeon would perform this procedure with NO anesthesia. Some surgeons use General Anesthesia, some surgeons perform the blepharoplasty surgery under local anesthesia. Do your research and make sure that you are comfortable with your surgeons experience with this procedure. Ask to see before and after photos and even speak with other patients who have had this surgery performed. Best Wishes! more

Tom J. Pousti, MD

San Diego Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Eyelid surgery without anesthesia

I assume that you are speaking about sedation and not anesthesia injected into the eyelids. My answer is, it depends. For a four lid blepharoplasty, you would be uncomfortable on the operating table for the duration of the procedure and I would not recommend it. An upper lid blepharoplasty is a short procedure and many patients can tolerate straight local. Your personality and tolerance are the critical factors. When I operate on my filler and Botox patients, I generally have a good... more

Robert L. Kraft, MD

New York Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Eyelid sugery without anesthesia

I am assuming you mean having it down under straight local anesthesia, like the dentist, without sedation or without general anesthesia, being put entirely to sleep. The short answer is yes, in selected patients. If it is just a small amount of skin, it might be able to be performed in a patient that is quite tolerant of discomfort. But, you certainly do not want to move or squirm when the surgeon is performing the surgery and inadvertently cut something unintended. When the fat pockets are... more

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Julio Garcia, MD

Las Vegas Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Local anesthesia an option for blepharoplasty

Hello! Blepharoplasty, or eyelid surgery, is fairly easily done under local alone- a numbing injection is all that is needed, with or without valium or halcion before the procedure. If you are looking to not remember anything, consider sedation with IV medications to take away memory and pain. Regardless, the procedure is fairly quick, and the only pain that should be felt is the sting of the numbing injection. there is very little discomfort after surgery regardless of... more

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Catherine Winslow, MD

Indianapolis Facial Plastic Surgeon

Eyelid Surgery and Anesthesia

Eyelid surgery can be done quite easily with local anesthesia. One can do upper and lower eyelid surgery with IV sedation, however, where I am located in Dallas, TX most patients prefer general anesthesia. I prefer general anesthesia as well for my patients as I prefer speaking to my patients pre and post operatively, but not intra operatively. It also provides for optimal safety for the patient.

Rod J. Rohrich, MD

Dallas Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

General or local anesthetics can be used

Blepharoplasty can certainly be done under local anesthesia without the need for general sedation. For both lower and upper lids, local anesthetic can be injected moments before the procedure itself, to take away any potential discomfort. Under local you will feel pressure and movement but not pain. Any more potential pain can be addressed by using a little more injection of local anesthetic.

Yael Halaas, MD

Manhattan Facial Plastic Surgeon

Local anesthesia usually adequate

Eyelid surgery, like any kind of surgery, usually requires some kind of anesthesia. I would not recommend surgery be done without anesthesia nowadays. Local anesthesia is relatively painless to administer, and within a few minutes the area will be numb for a couple of hours. Usually, eyelid surgery can be done quite adequately under just local anesthesia depending on the patient. Patients who are unusually sensitive may require additional anesthesia such as IV... more

James Tang, MD

Houston Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Intravenous sedation (“twilight sleep”) combined with local anesthesia is best for eyelid surgery

I perform eyelid surgeries on the majority of my patients without using general anesthesia. Instead, I prefer to use intravenous sedation, otherwise known as “twilight sleep”, combined with local anesthesia. The “twilight sleep” relaxes you and eliminates any discomfort while the local anesthesia is being placed. The local anesthesia completely eliminates any pain sensation, while at the same time minimizing any bleeding during the surgery.

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Michael R. Macdonald, MD

Bay Area Facial Plastic Surgeon

Blepharoplasty and types of anesthesia

In my practice in Newport Beach, California I offer several options for anesthesia. These are usually discussed in the preoperative and consultative phase and depend on the extent of the surgery and if the blepharoplasty is being done as a single operation and not in conjunction with other procedures. Blepharoplasty is a term used for both upper and lower eyelid surgery. In respect to the upper eyelid area lidocaine or a local anesthesia may be used and usually accompanied with some IV... more

Michael Elam, MD

Orange County Facial Plastic Surgeon

Can Eyelid Surgery Be Done Without Anesthesia?

I don’t know of many patients that can tolerate surgery without some kind of anesthetic, so I am assuming your concern is regarding the difference between general anesthesia and local (general anesthesia is when you are “put under”, versus lidocaine or some other local anesthetic that is simply injected into the surgery site to numb the “local area”). It is definitely possible to do a blepharoplasty with either local or general; it is really up to you to... more

Kenneth Bermudez, MD

San Francisco Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Blepharoplasty is easily done without general anesthesia

I assume you mean general anesthesia. Blepharoplasty in my hands is almost exclusively done under local anesthesia or local anesthesia with slight sedation. Attached is a video showing the procedure. see video

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Raghu Athre, MD

Houston Facial Plastic Surgeon

Can Eyelid Surgery Be Done Without Anesthesia?

Eyelid surgery can and very often is done with only local anesthesia. This means that the patient gets injections to the areas being operated on and is wide awake for the whole procedure. This type of anesthesia is well tolerated by most people. Some people prefer to be completely asleep and some prefer "twilight" anesthesia.

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Sam Goldberger, MD

Beverly Hills Oculoplastic Surgeon

Eyelid surgery can be safely performed under local anesthesia.

Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, can safely be performed under local anesthesia. In my experience, upper eyelids can easily be performed under straight local (numbing injections) or can be performed with local with some sedation. Lower eyelid surgery is often more complex than upper eyelid surgery and most patients prefer to have general anesthesia (go completely to sleep) for this procedure. Having local anesthesia instead of general anesthesia can also offer a... more

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Gregory Pippin, MD

New Orleans Facial Plastic Surgeon

Blepharoplasty without anesthesia

Eyelid surgery can be done locally which is essentially an injection of numbing medicine into the eyelid to numb the tissue. Most patients prefer the comfort of IV sedation or oral medication to relax them. It would be very painful to do the surgery without any numbing medicine at all. If you would like to avoid anesthetic costs (the anesthesiologist) I would recommend getting your surgeon to do the procedure with oral sedation and an injection of local.

Chris Thiagarajah, MD

Washington DC Oculoplastic Surgeon

Eyelid surgery can be done without general anesthesia

Upper eyelid surgery can easily be done with only local anesthesia or with a small amount of sedation such as Valium for those patients who are comfortable with the idea of being awake during their surgery. Lower eyelid surgery can also be done under local anesthesia, especially if only the excess/loose skin is being tightened. It can be slightly more difficult if the fat pads of the lower lid are being repositioned or removed as pulling on the fat pads can... more