Is It Safe to Use Ointment in Eyes for Long Period of Time?

I had upper eyelid surgery 3 months ago,my eyes is dry and still don't shut all the way. I have this weird filling in my eyeball and sticky in my eyelids. I have this tight muscle in my lift eye that made my eye look bigger than the other. should I get a second openion? or if I wait 6 months will my eyes close in time?

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4 Doctor Answers | Asked by Tess in hawaii

Doctor Answers (4)
Community Comments (0)

Is it safe? It is impossible to answer this question responsibly without a personal consultation.

At three month after eyelid surgery, the inability to close the eyes is a very concerning, potentially vision threatening complication. If you had eyelid surgery with a general plastic or facial plastic surgeon, they lack the training, experience, and equipment to properly assess the status of your corneal surface to understand how this complication is affecting the health of your eyes. I strongly recommend a second opinion from an oculoplastic surgeon. Ask your... more

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

8 reviews

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Lubricating ointment

Yes. It is safe to use ointment for a prolonged period, if you are using just bland lubricating eye ointment without antibiotics or steroids in it. I would recommend ointment which is preservative free.

Lawrence Kass, MD

31 reviews

Saint Petersburg Oculoplastic Surgeon

www.kassmd.com

Ointment is okay

Using ointment is totally fine long term, as long as its not antibiotics or steroids. As Dr. Kass mentioned, preservative free is preferable as the preservatives can potentially irritate the eyes if used too frequently. Now, we need to figure out the underlying problem. Having the eyes be a little tight after surgery is normal, but once you are past the three month post operative period, it needs to be re-evaluated. I would recommend consultation with an ASOPRS trained Oculoplastics... more