Eyelid Surgery: Stories

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Dont Do Eyelid Surgery if You Have Dry Eyes - New York, NY

New York680

Not Worth It
Cost: $6,000
New York city

I had upper and lower bleph without warning of dry...

3 Feb 2012

i had upper and lower bleph without warning of dry eye complication. post op had severe dry eye - extremely painful eyes and poor vision for 9 months - not able to read for 3 months. Managing severe dry eye very debilitating - hard to protect defenseless eyes. Op surgeon not helpful - treatment with eye drops w preservative exacerbated dry eye issue. Very disappointed with lack of disclosure of the multiple surgical complications or support for dealing with this. if you have dry eye - bleph is NOT FOR YOU.

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Comments (4)

Problems, Problems 28 Feb 2012

Well. I just counted and I'm 13 weeks post op today and MOST days my eyes need drops if not one application of nighttime petroleum jelly based ointment and ointment slathered heavily in them at night. I was out in the wind this weekend for the first time and didn't have to come running inside in five minutes, but put on goggles and finished my yard work. My yard looked like "weeds gone wild" from neglect for all this time. My eyes are still swollen, especially so in the mornings when I wake up. The internal pain is there upon waking and opening/stretching the eyes every morning, as well as the fact that I wake up crossed-eyed every morning! I no longer have to TAPE them closed or use the saran wrap and mask every night to keep the ointment IN and ON the eyes...

New York680 21 Feb 2012

Thank you!!! Dry eye is very painful and debilitating and the vision loss is upsetting. The medical profession is grossly negligent not to inform patients of the real risks of surgical complications. Its pure greed and evil. i spent the last year with eyes closed and my lids are still inflamed. Restasis gave me severe kidney pain for 3 days (talk about overkill). Best has been website dryeyepain.com which is an extensive resource for help with managing dry eye. Low tech stuff works best - warm compresses, protecting eye from wind and cold, etc.
Many thanks for your post - for a time i thought i was the only one unlucky enough to have post op dry eye.

Problems, Problems 20 Feb 2012

IT's amazing that they don't have to disclose published studies of the REAL statistics of blindness, dryeye, severe asymmetry, and more. They give you a blanket waiver that covers anything, including being hit by a meteor on way home from surgery, that we wouldn't think could happen in a million years, but amazingly this dry eye and horrible results are VERY common. On dryeyes.com the woman who has a website for all the products we, with dry eyes now need, has tons of studies for looking up the real statistics. I DIDN'T have DRY eyes before the surgery and never imagined how debilitating the condition was! There are several studies from leading universities out there that recommend to the operating surgeon different procedures to "do" to AVOID exacerbating the dry eye condition and PREVENTING the dry eye condition. ALL of them should be following those procedures, as not being able to SEE was horrifying and indescribable!

IF they mentioned everything with EXACT statistics, like the FDA makes drug companies do when they approve a new drug, then we could see the actual risks we are going to be taking!

Sharon at RealSelf (Community Manager) 9 Feb 2012

Thanks for the advice and sorry about your experience. Did this happen because your lids weren't closing completely? It definitely seems like something they should mention as a risk first!