73%

439 reviews

Worth It Rating Our index shows the percentage of community members saying this was "Worth it". See cosmetic treatment rankings

Eyelid Surgery Cost ≈ $4,300 average cost

Write a review | Ask a Question

Sutures Not Dissolving on Upper Eyelids?

I had and eyelift and mid-face lift done 9 days ago and things seem to look good except my upper lids which still show redness and swelling where the 'dissolving' sutures are. What can I do about this? The Dr. does not seem to be concerned about it.

Asked 34 months ago by Deborah L. in NYC

Tags:

upper eyelids

Irritation from Dissolving Stitches

I would advise you to have your surgeon take another look as he/she may want to remove any remaining stitches: if there is redness, there may be too much skin irritation from the stitches.

Paul C. Zwiebel, MD

Denver Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Dissolving sutures after eyelift and facelift

I'm a Cosmetic Oculofacial (Speciaizing in Eyelid and Facelift Surgery) Plastic Surgeon practicing for 15 years with offices in Manhattan's Upper Eastside. If the dissolving stitches are 6-0 fast absorbing plain gut sutures, they should be well dissolved by 9 days after habing your eyelift and facelift. In my practice, I usually see my patients in 5-7 days to clear off any dissolving stitches which haven't completely dissolved.

Amiya Prasad, MD

New York Oculoplastic Surgeon

Eyelid Sutures Should Not Be Forgotten

It is perfectly fine to use permanent sutures, such as Nylon, which are easily removed 4-5 days following surgery, or dissolving sutures, such as fast-absorbing gut, which usually dissolve in 5-6 days. However, it is not acceptable to have sutures in place for 9 or more days. For whatever reason, including the possibility that suture material with a slower resorption index was used, your stitches have not fully dissolved and at this point are potentially producing unnecessary... more

Jeffrey Weinzweig, MD

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Eyelid Sutures Should Not Be Left Alone

The eyelid sutures are causing an inflammatory reaction as your body "dissolves" them. An excessive reaction may lead to a less desirable scar. Even if they are dissolvable, they can be removed. Your doctor can evaluate your condition and easily remove them, if he thinks they need to come out.

Randy J. Buckspan, MD

Austin Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

9 days is a bit long for upper eyelid sutures

9 days is a bit long for upper eyelid sutures. You might want to touch base with your surgeon once again. If they look like fishing line, they might be nylon sutures that need to be removed. If they are brown/clear they might be absorbable fast absorbing gut that that should have dissolved by now.

Doctor's Website

Raghu Athre, MD

Houston Facial Plastic Surgeon

Dissolving Sutures After Eyelid Surgery

Nine days is long for the eyelid sutures to be in place. I like to remove my eyelid sutures after 4 days as they are not necessary and can cause annoyance, delayed return to looking "healed", and possiby "dot" scars. Your doctor's nurse should be able to remove those sutures in less than a minute.

Doctor's Website

Louis W. Apostolakis, MD

Austin Facial Plastic Surgeon

Eyelid sutures

I would give it some time. The sutures will dissolve and the doctor can remove them in time if needed. A tincture of time is all that is needed here. 9 days is a very very short period after surgery.

Chris Thiagarajah, MD

Washington DC Oculoplastic Surgeon

Sutures after blepharoplasty

The dissolving sutures can sometimes irritate the skin sometimes. The solution is simple. Have your surgeon remove them.

Andres Bustillo, MD

Miami Facial Plastic Surgeon

Dissolving sutures causing redness

The upper eyelids are exquisitely sensitive. The skin around this area can be easily perturbed. Dissolving sutures have the following distinct disadvantages: More reactive to surrounding skin Unpredictable absorption pattern- may dissolve earlier or later than ideal. If sutures dissolve too late, can cause abnormal scarring such as track marks Limited in how small suture size- Due to the fragility of the material of dissolving sutures, they... more

Anil R. Shah, MD

Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon

Eyelid suture removal

Both dissolving and non dissolving sutures can cause irritation. I find that the dissolving sutures tend to cause more redness and swelling. If you are having redness and irritation at 9 days and the sutures are still in place your doctor may want to remove them. Usually sutures can be removed 5-7 days after upper eyelid surgery.

David Freilich, MD

Englewood Oculoplastic Surgeon

Suture irritation

Suture irritation can occur with both non-dissolving and dissolving sutures and is treated by removing the sutures. At 9 days, there should be no problem with removing eyelid sutures, even if they will continue to dissolve on their own. The irritation may be from something else, but at least removing them may solve the problem and if not, help discover what the specific problem actally is.

David J. Levens, MD

Coral Springs Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Sutures not dissolving on upper eyelids

Return to the surgeon to have these removed ASAP. You most likely are having a reaction to the suture material. Please seek care from MIAMI DR. B

Darryl J. Blinski, MD

Miami Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Absorbable Sutures in Eyelid Surgery: Don't Worry

The first piece of advice I will give is : Don't worry, the sutures will be gone very soon. The reason I prefer permanent (removable) monofilament sutures for upper eyelid surgery is that there is less initial tissue reaction than with absorbable sutures. Although the variant of absorbable suture probably used in your case is designed to dissolve in 6-7 days, it can last longer in certain circumstances. At 1 year, it won't make a difference because eyelid... more

Stephen Prendiville, MD

Fort Myers Facial Plastic Surgeon

Absorbable Sutures in Upper Eyelid Surgery

Absorbable sutures in general are not used in upper eyelid surgery unless there is an added procedure performed on the eyelid for droopy eyelids (tosis). It takes about 60-90 days for absorbable sutures to be completely absorbed by our body.

Amie Malihan, MD

New York Plastic Surgeon

Upper eyelid sutures are not always dissolvable and might need to be removed.

Your upper eyelid sutures might need removal. Ask your surgeon. If they are the dissolvable type, depending on the material used, it may take a bit longer for them to disappear. I would call your surgeon and get the information.

Vincent N. Zubowicz, MD

Atlanta Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Sutures and Upper Eyelid Lift Procedure

If your surgeon used dissolvable sutures along the upper eyelid incision, you might be seeing the reaction of your skin to the dissolvable material. For instance, there is a material called fast absorbing gut that is commonly used as a dissolving suture. The benefit is that you do not have to remove the suture. Unfortunately, the tissue reaction that causes the sutures to dissolve on their own can create just what you describe - some redness and mild swelling. This is the precisely why I... more

John M. Hilinski, MD

San Diego Facial Plastic Surgeon

Post-op changes after blepharoplasty

Redness around the site of your incisions is not uncommon. As long as it is just redness from healing and not infection, this will reoslve over time.

Steven Wallach, MD

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Redness and swelling after upper lid surgery

Usually non desolvable sutures are used after eyelid surgery. These sutures are removed within 5 days otherwise there is tendecy to form cysts. The redness could still be du to echimosis in which case it will go away. The scars can be red and this redness could resulve in months. You should follow up wth your plastic surgeon.

Farhad Rafizadeh, MD

Morristown Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Remove the sutures

The removable sutures can cause some irritation at times. If you are concerned you can ask your surgeon to remove the sutures. However the swelling and redness is likely from the midface lift and not from the sutures. Midface lift can cause longer swelling. Also, keep in mind that if you are still using Neosporin ointment on the eyelids, this could be an allergic reaction. Regards