Eyelid Surgery: Stories

Your MD sounds like a real human being. I need to see a good MD who will really look at my overall situation, which is similar with the lid and lashes turned up - so misserable. Can you give me his name and location. Really appreciation..

Dear Unofactasunt, My oculoplastic surgeon not only removed scar tissue under the lid suture but also gently released the outer portion of my lid (levator muscle release) so the lid would uncurl and close more fully. He said it was a difficult job because he, too, had to be careful not to overcorrect and cause the lid to droop. For scar tissue removal alone, it's mostly a matter of reopening the suture and doing a better, neater, flatter, more thoughtful closure. Only thing, there has to be enough eyelid skin to handle another manipulation. If you can handle the dry eye for 6 months or so it's better to wait before having anyone touch them. I found massaging the lid in a downward and outward motion several times a day with freshly washed hands helped relax the lid. Warm compresses seemed to help, too, even weeks after surgery. Best wishes.

I have seen a great plastic surgeon like 2 weeks ago and he said i had the surgery for no reason..If i went to him before, he wouldn't do it. So, please always go to other doctors to see if you really need the operation. He recommended not to have another correction upper eyelid surgery, in stead he asked me to contact him 2-3 months later which will be almost 6 months after surgery and he'll inject fat tissue by taking from my body to end of the eyelid. He said this will make my eyes look not so tired and dull anymore and it'll correct the scar which looks terrible by the way and he said this will even help the lower eyelid wrinkles...i can't wait to contact him..My lesson from all this pain is never trust a young, unknown doctor, always get 2nd and 3rd opinions and always see a prof. doctor who has recommendations...

For dry eyes, i recommend you use medical eyedrops, not something like visine which i heard after some time it affects the eye in a bad way. I've been using this eye drop since surgery and my eye dryness went away. If it doesn't help, my doctor had talked about a surgery where they take something (i dont remember its name) from your nose and tie it to your eyes so your eyes won't be dry anymore...If you ask your DR about this, probably he'll explain you better than me :)

That is so good to hear. First time I hear anyone talk about eye curled up. My lids turn up and expose sensitive underside of the lid. I've seen other ocularplastic MD's - they did not mention scar tissue, but I was thinking along those lines. One specialist said the lid needed lowered just above the eyelash area, but was afraid of lowering it too much. The crease in that eye (left) is obviously too high and there is other problems. How much did this procedure cost and was it in a surgical center or hospital. I doubt that my insurance will pay and I'll have to use retirement money. Really appreciate receiving this info. Have you had any problems since and did they tell you that it was dry eye as well.

When Dr. Scott Sigler corrected my eyelid in Edmond, Oklahoma, he also removed scar tissue along the incision line from my bleph by another plastic surgeon. Immediately after surgery I had tremendous relief from that dry eye, scratchy feeling and my lid no longer curled so badly at the outer edge. Sigler is an oculoplastic reconstructive plastic surgeon. I don't know if he does eyelid grafting, but he certainly has the credentials and he really helped me. Maybe removing scar tissue along the lid will help you, too, and it doesn't sound nearly as risky as a graft.

My eye lids turn up at the end and sensitive to air, etc. They say it is dry eye which I am sick of hearing. It's been 2 1/2 yrs since my surgery. Other Optomolagist stated that there was an over correction. I can't find anyone who will do a skin graft and it is even more scary hoping that another surgeon is experienced and knowledge to do a good job. I can move my eye lids, but can't raise my eyebrows as it pulls the skin tight making the right eye smaller and the left where a graft is needed even higher. Creases are one higher then the other and show bumps, etc. I can still feel the cut line from my inner eye and follows the crease across my eyes which pulls as being too tight also. REcently my eyeballs have started hurting, can't read much or watch TV. I am looking for a speical ocular plastic surgeon who can correct these issues. If anyone has had a successful repair and knows a good surgeon, please let me know as I am still fighting depression and no quality in life.

ReginaG - how are your eyes feeling? Did you ever find out if you had a suture infection and/or dry eye? I am a little over a year since my surgery and have no more issues with pain or dry eye. I still do have the little bags at the outer corners. I had hoped these would resolve with time, however I guess he didn't remove enough fat. I am glad he was conservative rather than agressive. I will see him for my one year follow up next month. I will not ever go through this again so I guess I'm stuck with the smaller version of bags, lol.

Hi All,

It's been almost 4 months now after the surgery...The scars are still seen but i started using a medical jel lotion called Contractubex and after 2 weeks of using it, the scars are way better! I can't believe that but my eyes look better and the scars are slowly disappearing every time i use it. When i first started using it, it felt very itchy and when i asked a doctor about it, he said it means it's recovering. I wanted to let everyone know about this jel so maybe it can help. Also, please use a lot of Vitamin C and E if you want fast recovering. I still hate my doctor and i hope he goes to hell but i'm glad that there's hope that these scars may not fully but almost disappear by using some products without another surgery.

rosepo - it takes about a month before the numbness goes away (lashes are the last to get feeling back). I lost some eyelashes with the removal of the stitches but they grew back no problem. I do have one "white" eyelash after the surgery. I pluck it out! Weird. My advice is to not tire out your eyes - they are healing. Minimal reading or computer work for about 2 months if possible. This really stresses your eyes and can make dry eye worse. Also avoid wind and sun as they do the same. don't worry about the peaks and valleys - the eyes heal at a different rate and you are probably still seeing swelling which distorts everything...

I appreciate all the info as I had my upper bleth Nov. 1, 2011. My eyelids are swollen and numb, my eyelashes have disappeared on the left eye which has an abnormal looking peak and is larger than the right. However, after reading many of the posts I now realize that it takes time for everything to heal. My chief complaint is also the blurriness that makes reading difficult. There was no pain or discomfort during the surgery.

I had my eyelid repair from a botched bleph with a local and mild IV sedation. I was awake but relaxed during the procedure. The advantage....the doctor asked me to look up, look straight, look down, etc. so he could make adjustments. The original surgeon had me asleep for the procedure. I think that contributed to the asymmetry and general botch job. I may be wrong but with the right placement of the numbing medicine there shouldn't be any pain even if awake.

Thanks a lot SB..I'll see my DR tomorrow..He says not to panic and not to google..Thanks God we have Internet and share information..He gave me a pomade with antibiotic and i'm applying it everyday but the yellow thing doesnt stop and it hurts..Also, i started applying that pomade before i go to bed b/c after i put it, my vision gets worst. i try to make sure it doesnt go to my eyes but for some reason, it affects my eyes and vision. I'll check polysporin to see if it's same as the one i use..Btw, my doc never did any tests for dry eye before the surgery..
But the worst is that i can't look up..my BF took a pic of me while looking up and i look terrible. i am not sure if i'll ever be able to look up. i hope it'll get better as you say..i really hope..I'll see another doc just to get another feedback next week.
Also, i dont recommend this surgery with local anesthesia to anyone..you feel the pain in your brain while they're cutting the tissue in your eyes..it's sooo painful.

Regina, sounds like you have a minor infection on your suture line. Did the doctor give you polysporin to apply to the suture line daily for a week? This can be cleared up with antibiotics and the polysporin (a topical antibiotic). As for the blurry vision and dry eye: this can be bothersome for up to 4 months. Did your doctor test you for dry eye before the surgery? I would be concerned as Lasik Surgery can cause dry eye and blepharoplasty can actually make it even worse. Normally the surgeon will check your eyes with a tear test to make sure you are a good candidate. I had dry eye up to the 4th month and then it seemed to get better. I had "tired" eyes for about two and a half months where I had to limit computer time and reading as this was very uncomfortable. You are still very early in your recovery. Swelling can distort your vision as well as your ability to look up. The swelling will go down and your skin will relax (the scars can take up to a year to mature). Hopefully time will resolve all these issues. But for peace of mind, I would consult an eye doctor, preferably one that does blepharoplasty. After this consultation I would see your original doctor again and compare advice. Good luck to you!

Hi All, I just found this website and your comments while i'm trying to find out what may have gone wrong with my surgery..I had upper eyelid surgery around 2 weeks ago..i'm 35 and i had the similar complaints about my eyelid as everyone else but now after the surgery, i wish i never had done this surgery..It looked very easy but it turned out that it was much more complicated than i was told. Aside from the scars which look like they won't go away and i'll live with these ugly scars, i can't look up! When i'm sitting and someone is in front of me standing, i can't look up to that person and i feel weird and stupid and i cant lift my eyes..This is a terrible felling..i am shocked to read other comments here that this won't go away :( Also, my vision is blurry all the time like there's a cloud in my eyes and my eyes are so dry that i carry my eye drops whereever i go. Even i put it all the time, my blurry vision doesnt go away for hours. This makes me look tired and sleepy all the time. I want to sleep all the time because of this blurry vision which is very tiring. I had lasic surgery 2 times years ago to correct my vision and noone told me if that could affect my vision after this surgery. I had asked my DR and he said it wouldn't be a problem. I am even not sure if that may be the reason! But something is wrong...Also, after my stitches are taken, the cut became wide and something yellow is coming from inside the skin everyday..It's really gross. i'll see the DR tomorrow but what will he do to fix this??? i'm not stupid to see that he has done something wrong. My advise: do not have this surgery until you are 100% sure about your surgent and if you really look awful or can't open your eyes. If not, it's waste of time, money and after look is worse than the previous look.

Andrianna, I too have the same issue as you experience with looking strange and seeing blurry when I look up. I also cannot acutally look up as high as I used to. I also look sad all the time now and I wish I had paid closer attention to the "not worth it" reviews prior to moving forward with surgery. I hope more people pay attention to our stories and learn to love their natural look ...because it could be MUCH better than the results of this procedure if things go wrong ..as they unfortunately did for us.

if you wanted to you could always have a little fat injected back into the hollows. Seems to be quite successful given the right doctor. there's a promising before and after on realself under 'artefill' i think its on the second row. It should be pretty obvious. I would link it, but it's not possible with this comment box.

My eyelids were done 6 months ago. The corner of right eye has "dogear" where stitches were incorrectly sewn. There are white blotches that resemble whiteheads on both eyelids and under right eye something he called a cloresteral bump. I never had that before and it is "oddly" where stitches were taken. He said that no one looks at my eyes anyway. I want to find out how to alert Kentuckians about Dr. Husley. Also want to find out how to correct this. I have been told it is not enough money to sue. Please help!