43-year-old Female Having Much-needed Bilateral Upper Blepharoplasty. Ontario, ON

I've been wanting this surgery for forever!! As you can see from the pictures, I have serious hooding (left eye is worse) and my surgery is scheduled for Monday, December 29th!! I am so excited and nervous at the same time! Here are a few "before" pictures and I will post more following the surgery. This site was actually really helpful in finally deciding to take the plunge and just do it! :)

My surgery was yesterday afternoon and today, as expected, there is a lot of swelling but not much bruising (yet!). My PS said that it was okay to shower today (which I did) and to expect my steri-strips to come off. He said if they didn't come off on their own, not to force them off. The ends of the strips loosened but they are pretty much firmly in place, so it will be a little while yet before I will see the actual incisions. Overall, feeling great and just resting. Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings! :)

Now that I'm on the mend, I'll write about my experience so far. I know that this site was extremely helpful as I searched for information to help me decide on whether or not to have upper eyelid surgery, so I will try to return the favor by describing my own experience. I will post more pictures later today after I've had a chance to clean my eye area and apply antibiotic ointment.

So here goes...my surgery was done under local anesthesia and IV sedation. My plastic surgeon is a general plastic surgeon (not ocular), but that did not concern me because 1) he is the head of plastic surgery for multiple surgical hospitals in the city in which I live, and 2) I had done a lot of research on my own about eyelid surgery beforehand (e.g., how a conservative approach should be taken) and he confirmed all of this when he described the approach he would take with my surgery, so this helped to ensure me that he was experienced and up to date with the surgical techniques. In fact, now that the steri-strips are finally starting to come off of my incisions, I can definitely see the care and precision that was taken with my blepharoplasty. My actual incision lines are barely visible three days after surgery because they are so thin and also because they are located perfectly in my natural crease. :)

I don't recall anything at all about the surgery and when I came out of anesthesia, I thought I had only been under for five minutes (I even said this to the doctor, haha!). Unfortunately, I had a pretty severe headache afterward but had it before I went into surgery so it didn't concern me, although it did make my experience in the hours after the surgery rather unpleasant. My PS gave me a prescription for Tylenol 3s, oral antibiotics, and an antibiotic ointment. My instructions were to take the oral antibiotics until finished (5 days), take the Tylenol 3s as necessary for pain, and begin applying the antibiotic ointment to the incisions after the steri-strips come off (which he said should be after a day or two). He told me to shower the day after surgery and that should help to lift the strips. He cautioned me very strongly not to pull the strips off myself. Unfortunately, the strips are still on the outer parts of both eyes and feel like they're cemented on there pretty good! It's not a huge problem but my eyes are dry, tight, and itchy where the strips are so I'd really like them to come off soon. My other instructions were to apply round cotton make-up pads that have been wetted and then placed in the freezer for 10 minutes (until malleable) on my eyes for swelling approximately 4-5 times per day for 3 to 4 days. I've actually been alternating between doing that and putting small pouches of frozen peas on my eyes a few times a day. He specifically stated not to put warm compresses on my eyes, so I have not done that. He also stated no bending or lifting for the first few days, and that I should start going for brief leisure walks after 4 or 5 days. I am a huge yoga nut and asked him when I could start doing that again and he said absolutely not until 4 weeks after surgery (*sigh*).

He used a subcutaneous continuous stitch to close the incisions so I can only see the stitches at the inner and outer corners of my eyes where they come out of the skin and are tied in knots. He instructed me to be careful that the knots do not get tugged and said that when he removes the sutures in 7 days, it will just be a matter of snipping the knots at the ends and the sutures will come out with one gentle tug for each eye. I've had surprisingly little bruising so far. I've got a pale yellow hue on my lower lids on day 3 and some purple color just above my upper eyelashes, but overall it is much less than I expected. I haven't taken any particular remedies (e.g., arnica) for bruising or swelling, but have eaten pineapple every day since the surgery :)

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of all of this so far is the change in my visual field! I am amazed at how my vision is no longer obstructed by the "hoods" of my eyes and it just feels like I can see so much better! Everything is brighter, bigger, and I feel like I am looking at everything through a panoramic lens! It is truly remarkable and it really makes me wonder why I never did this sooner :) Okay, I think I've rambled enough for now, and I promise I will post some new pictures before the day is over. Best to everyone who is recovering and I hope this information is helpful to those in the contemplation phase. Happy New Year to all!!