For How Long Do I Have to Use a Sunscreen on my Upper Eyelid Surgery Scars?

Care is needed with your blepharoplasty incision because it is a very sensative area.  Following a Blepharoplasty, sunscreen is very important because the sun can make the incision more red or dark in color, which can take several months to resolve.  You should apply it frequently on your upper eye lids for a period of 6 months after surgery.

Hello! Thank you for your question! After any surgical procedure, you should be careful with incisions as well as avoidance of direct UVA and UVB rays in order to lessen the chance for hyperpigmentation of the skin and scars, which can take several months to resolve, if it ever does. Sunblock is recommended regardless. The ability of the affected area to heal has been slowed and you should try to avoid additional swelling to the area. The area will likely be numb for several weeks to months and will be difficult to feel when sunburn is coming on. Typical recommendations include wearing a hat and/or sunblock to the affected area for at least 6-12 weeks following the procedure. It takes up to one year for scars to fully mature. You should also avoid trauma to the area for several months to protect the refinements made during the procedure. Also, avoidance of pools/lakes/jacuzzis/etc for 4-6 weeks is usually recommended to allow adequate healing and protection from stagnant water, that could potentially harbor bacteria. Lifting/exercise restrictions are common for at least 7 weeks. Certainly discuss the postoperative instructions with your surgeon, as thoughts differ among surgeons. Hope that this helps! Best wishes!

You should use sunscreen indefinitely unless you are using UVA/UVB protected eye glasses.  Your skin should have some kind of UV protection, either mechanically or chemically.  This will protect your investment and assist in prevention of further damage.

Of course it is a good idea to apply sunscreen to any sunexposed area on a daily basis.  Scars can very rarely develop darkness or hyperpigmentation so I tell patients to be very careful about sunexposure and apply sunscreen to the scars at least for the first year.   Some redness to a scar 7 weeks after surgery is normal and it will usually fade by 3 months. 

Sunscreen is always a good idea (so is selling you convertible if your have one).  What your surgeon was concerned about was that your upper eyelid scars would hyperpigment after the surgery.  This is not generally something that we see.  If you have a history of hyperpigmentation, then the concern is more legitimate.  Persistent redness in a young scar can be improved with laser treatment  and you might discuss this with your surgeon.