Tightness and swelling post-Blepharoplasty

I had incisional double eyelid and lower blepharoplasty a month ago. One of my eyes isn't recovering well; the eyelid is still swollen and feels a little tight. The other eye is also bigger than the other. Is this normal, and will it eventually get better?

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8 answers to “Tightness and swelling...”

A: Tightness and swelling after blepharoplasty will improve

By Brooke R. Seckel, MD - Boston Plastic Surgeon

The tightness and swelling of your lower eyelids will improve, but after a month I would expect you to be less swollen. Ask your doctor is he/she approves of massage which can help the swelling and also may help the retraction of your right lower eyelid. The fact that your right eye looks larger is due to the... more

A: This can take a little longer to resolve itself

By Philip Young, MD - Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

I can see that from your picture your right eye is a little bigger. This can happen with lower eyelid blepharoplasty when this procedure entails taking skin and fat. The skin resection and the scar contracture is what can cause the lower eyelid to retract downwards revealing more eye in your right eye. This... more

A: Still too soon to tell

By Jonathan Hoenig, MD - Beverly Hills Oculoplastic surgeon

One month after eyelid surgery is still too soon to tell the final results. Prolonged swelling is possible. Some things that may help: Try to sleep on your back, avoid salty foods (soy sauce, MSG!) and limit activity. Warm compresses can reduce swelling and gentle stretching exercises can help your lower lid... more

A: Lower eyelid position after Blepharoplasty

By Raffy Karamanoukian, MD - Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon

Inferior lower eyelid position and swelling after surgery can be normal elements of postoperative blepharoplsty. Massage and administration of opthalmic antibiotics may minimize infection dry eyes resulting from the scleral exposure. In most cases, continuous massage will help eliminate early signs of... more

A: Swelling, lid level and eye shape

By Hisham Seify, MD, PhD - Orange County Plastic Surgeon

As expressed by several of my collegues ,swelling could take sometime to resolve. However,few things needs to be excluded.Infection,hematoma. The picture taken is not well centralised but it seems that the right lower lid level is lower.As long as no exposure symptoms occur,it should be fine. I ask my patients... more

A: Swelling takes severeal months

By Robert M. Freund, MD - New York City Plastic Surgeon

Swelling takes several months at the least when performing asian eyelid surgery. The problem of doing anything with two side by side structures - eyelids, ears, breasts - is that swelling may not happen at the same rate. if you sleep on one side, then your swelling will be different from side to side. If a... more

A: Eyelid surgery

By Steven Wallach, MD - Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Eyelid assymetry is normal. I am sure you had some asymmetry before surgery. ALso differential swelling is also possible. Make sure that your eye is not irritated. If it is , it probably is just dry and need to be lubricated with saline drops or gel. You should follow closely with your doctor to make... more

A: Wait till all swelling are resolved

By Kamran Khoobehi, MD - New Orleans Plastic Surgeon

It is too early to see the final result and you should wait. You also need to discuss this with your surgeon. The difference between left and right eye is common and you need to compare to the preop pictures.

Comments

aliu
109 posts
15 Jan 2009

Dear GLS, From your photo and description it sounds like you had upper eyelid Asian Blepharoplasty and external incisional blepharoplasty. As a surgeon who does a lot of Asian eyelids, I can tell you that 1 month is no where near enough time to complete healing. Asian blepharoplasty involves manipulation of the deep eyelid muscle which makes healing time much longer compared to a Caucasian bleph. Additionally you also had lower eyelid skin excised. For my patients who only have upper eyelid incisional Asian blephs I tell them to expect to be swollen and uneven up to 3 months before they start looking more appropriate. From your photo you are a bit more swollen than I would expect for being 1 month out but that could be from a variety of reasons (was laser used? smoking history? etc....). However there is nothing grossly apparent in your healing photo that seems to be out of the ordinary. Even after you complete healing, I hope that your surgeon was realistic with you and told you that likely you will be slightly asymmetric. Although we always aim for perfection, eyelids will always heal differently even if the same exact amount of tissue was removed. In fact every eyelid (Asian, Caucasian, natural, surgical etc...) will have a little bit of asymmetry to look normal. Best of luck with healing.

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