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Upper Eyelid Surgery in Tampa, FL

I had upper eyelid surgery on 10/31/11. It's...

  • 15 Nov 2011

I had upper eyelid surgery on 10/31/11. It's only been a few weeks, so I'm still healing. I wanted to share my experience with people because I notice a lot of posters on here had little to no bruising and my experience was quite different. Some people look great after just 2-3 days after surgery, and I want people to be aware that it might not be the case for you.

I wanted to have the surgery done because I was noticing a lot of "hooding" on my left eye. I'm only 33 and my right eye didn't have any issues, but that left eye was bothering me and I figured my right eye would eventually catch up. I found a plastic surgeon that was professional, focused of facial plastic surgery, and his before and after results seemed very natural. Since my eyes weren't that bad to begin with, I did NOT want to go to an aggressive surgeon for fear of the "hollowness" some other posters have complained about.

Prior to the surgery, I followed all of the doctor's orders...no vitamin E (no multi vitamin, that was hard!), fish oil, ibuprofin, aspirin, or alcohol for 3 weeks. I also vamped up my vitamin C intake for 3 weeks prior and Arnica 1 week prior. I thought following all of these orders, plus being fairly young(and because he was only removing some skin, no fat or muscle), that I would recover pretty quickly and would be somewhat presentable enough to go out and about after a week or so. Wrong! I decided I wanted to be completely knocked out for my surgery, and I wonder if that contributed to my bruising.

After surgery, my eyes were very red and swollen. I would sleep with at least 4 pillows(and iced as much as I could handle) and the swelling went down after 3 days. For these first few days, I could only open my eyes about 50%. I didn't really experience much pain, but was quite uncomfortable due to the swelling. That improved after 3-4 days, but I still had a ton of watering of the eyes for about a week(not to mention bruising). After the first week, I did feel much better. My eyes are not as tight as they were, and once the stitches were removed at day 11, the discomfort was gone(my experience was that the stitches were very itchy!). After my surgeon removed the stitches at day 11, he said they looked great and didn't need to see me again for 10 weeks. 16 days after surgery, I can still "feel" my eyelids(he said I will for the next 6 months), but they don't hurt at all. There is some scar tissue bumpiness around my eyes, and I am going to try Mederma to smooth it out. I also notice my eyes tend to get sore if I am on the computer or read too much(Visine Tired Eye Relief works great for this!)

I did experience a lot of bruising, especially on my left eye. I actually woke up with a black eye UNDER my left eye on day 3(even though I only had my uppers done). I have used Arnica(pill form as well as the topical gel) religiously, and I'm not sure it worked for me. In fairness, I think I do bruise easily since I also still have a bruise where they stuck the needle in my arm for the anesthesia!

Other than a small red circle under my left eye, the bruising is finally gone. My eyes looked their worst from day 3 to day 10, so I highly recommend taking off 2 weeks of work if you can. After one week, I still had a lot of bruising that makeup would not cover(I only used cover up below my eye since my surgeon said no make up for 3 weeks). Overall, I am very happy I had the surgery, just wish I knew how much bruising and scar tissue there would be after the fact. Most of my scar tissue is along the crease, so I'm probably the only one who really notices it. Pictures say 1000 words, so I will continue to update you and post more pics once I have healed more and can finally wear makeup. Best of luck to anyone who wants to have this procedure done!

Edward Farrior, MD
Tampa Facial Plastic Surgeon

Dr. Farrior is experienced and professional. He didn't really offer any information about the procedure or what to expect afterwards, but he did answer all my questions. He has a great staff and I am very happy with the follow up care(I've had 2 follow up appts- one at day 3 and the other at day 11) and will see him again in January. His wait time was excellent, with the exception of the surgery day itself. I was originally supposed to have surgery at 7:30am. They called a few days before and changed it to 1:15pm. They called around 12pm the day of the surgery and changed it to 2:45pm and I was probably sitting in the lobby until around 4pm before they finally called me back. This made the day of surgery very stressful and frustrating. Dr. Farrior seems to be a little more conservative than some of the other doctors on here(he doesn't take stitches out until day 11 and he's pretty firm on the no make-up rule for 3 weeks). His office provides a thorough and easy set of instructions for pre-op and post-op, which I found very helpful.

5 out of 5 stars Overall rating
5 out of 5 stars Doctor's bedside manner
5 out of 5 stars Answered my questions
5 out of 5 stars After care follow-up
4 out of 5 stars Time spent with me
5 out of 5 stars Staff professionalism & courtesy
5 out of 5 stars Payment process
4 out of 5 stars Wait times
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Comments (37)

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First let me say, you have very pretty eyes! thank you for your review, I am thinking in the near future of having this surgery before my eyelids get too bad. I am glad to know what to expect.
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Hi Tampa8357, I'm 5 day post op for upper blepharoplasty & have spent the last hour or so trawling through these reviews & am so relieved to have finally found someone whose bruising is similar to mine! I look like a slowly recovering bride of Frankenstein right now. I was completely freaked out last Thursday morning (the day after surgery) when my right top lid had puffed up & gone completely bright red & swollen while my left one looked pretty good, all things considered! I'm keeping a photo diary which is really attractive ;o) & will post on here when I'm a bit further down the track. Thanks for your review anyway, you've made me feel much better!!
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Tampa8357, I wish I could redo my long comment as I didn't realize the timeline you showed as it is totally normal to have heavy bruising around the eyes which are so sensitive. I was in a recovery center with bandages around my whole head the first week and have no pictures but after they were off, while there was some bruising, the healing went great; however, what I see on you at DAY 16 looks similar to what is bothering me now and as I have permanent eyeliner, I normally don't wear shadow and for some reason it only recently came to my attention that my upper eyes don't look right on the inside corner and a doctor just told me yesterday that it is a "fat pad" easy to remove. When I had surgery, it was because left eye was droopy so I don't think he cut all the way across either and there was some problem in the healing of that eye and did take some time to resolve itself. I would go back to Dr. Lev in a heartbeat but his charge just for a facelift is the same as in the states now and with the travel etc. it just isn't worth it as I'm sure I will find a food doctor local...remember, he didn't attach my ears right and I had to go back the next year; but I can't emphasize enough how excellent the entire experience was considering the price and I had a wonderful vacation to boot. Dr. Lev came recommended by next door nurse neighbor and husband and I was very naive of all the implications of what can go wrong and something can go wrong even with the best doctor. If you read my posts, I do mention one bad experience in the Clearwater area with my lips (which cost a lot and no visible change) and he DID NOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY LIKE Dr. Lev did but that's for another thread already posted. It was ironic that the woman who referred me to Dr. Farrior turned out to also had a bad experience with Dr. Swanson in Clearwater and I've heard he is no longer in practice so moot point. I don't want to give impression something is wrong about Dr. Farrior just based on me scanning your pictures and comments...not enough info so I apologize to you and him if you are happy as I was actually responding to what some of the people who replied to you were saying as well and I hadn't seen your ACTUAL BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURE...only the three that show up at first sight upon seeing this page. It appears that a year later you are happy, am I correct? Many people post right after their surgeries and then never come back to tell us what the actual final outcome was so thank you for doing that.
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WOW! My experience was nothing like yours. First of all, I had NO type of anesthesia. I remember it all and I do mean IT ALL!!!. Don't get me wrong. No pain - whatsoever, but I was not out or asleep. Just a Xanax about 15 minutes before I was escorted into the surgical suite on 5/1/13. About 45 minutes later I was escorted out - to a recliner - where I was given an ice pack for both eyes... a pack of peanut butter crackers and some apple juice. Fifteen minutes later, I was outta there. This was on a Wednesday morning at 11:00 a.m. I'm now 10 days post-op. Like Tampa8347 I followed doctor's instructions and vamped up on Arnica one week prior to help prevent post op bruising. Not that it did me any good as I looked like I'd been sandwiched between a Freightliner and Caterpillar truck the following morning. Kept frozen peas and/or corn on my face for 45 minutes of each hour for the next 4 days *with my head propped up) and still looked like I'd lost the boxing match with Ali). Went back to work on Monday (yes... just 5 days later) and had to keep sunglasses on all week. Today is Saturday and the under eye puffiness is unbelievable. No amount of green cover up or foundation will cover this redness. Trust me, I've tried it all. I was cut from the corner of my eyes to the outside of my eyes (just under the brow line). I'm certain my doctor knows what he was doing. I go back in on Monday to get the stitches out and can't wait as they're very itchy. My upper lids are numb - which I understand is normal as the nerve endings were cut and I can't feel my eye lashes at all. I'm told that all of this will come back in time but being the "A" type personality I am... I wanted it to return to normal... yesterday! My doctor is rated one of the best in Tampa Bay so I'm just going to trust him and know that in time... I'll be able to look in the mirror and smile... knowing I made a good decision. The only reason I decided to have this surgery done was because of a drastic loss of peripheral vision in both eyes and my prayer is that I'll have better vision once it's all said and done. Good luck to all of you planning on this surgery!
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Wow, thank you for your thorough review as someone from here actually told me to go to this doctor and after reading your experience, not sure this is good idea as I had a full facelift and must have been similar eye surgery along with lipsuction in 1995 in Costa Rica and I didn't have anything like what you went through and I will be happy to scan my before and after pictures and send them to you as not sure I want to post them here as it shows my whole face. Now, I will tell you that there was some problem with the left eye with healing and it was ONLY THIS LAST YEAR that I noticed something weird what a doctor told me simply a fat pad in the inside nose corner of my eye and simple to remove and also now I have lot of wrinkles under my eye so I'm looking to get lower blethoparsy (sp?) Also, i went back the next year and he fixed my earlobes at no charge and did a little lipo and something else so considering the amazing price I paid, i was not upset as everything went so well, I had such wonderful aftercare and I was going out in public either the end of first or 2nd week...in otherwords, able to go on some tours to the volcanoes and so forth but the woman who was a heavy smoker had a much more difficult time at recouperating so people TAKE THAT SERIOUSLY, DON'T SMOKE OR YOU WON'T HEAL QUICKLY. Anyway, my surgery lasted 17 years...and now I need to have refresher with exactly the same issue I had when I was 48. Send me a message through Real Self if you need to see more pictures I haven't already posted. Good luck and do you agree to find another physician in St. Pete/Tampa area?
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I have read all these comments and problems you guys are having. I have to say that I must have a really good ps. I am 2 weeks today post op and you can hardly tell I have any scaring at all. I had really bad bruising, since I bruise very easily and it is amazing how quick it went away. I have no bruising at all now, no swelling, and where the incisions were was a little bumpy as you have described but all I had to do was massage moisturizer where they were and the bumps and the pinched look in the inner corner of the eye is gone in just 2 weeks. The doctor let me wear makeup in just one week except right on the incision where he removed the stitches but where the incisions were it is a little light red but when I put highlighter on the upper brow the crease just looks I have put shadow there too. I had really bad sagging skin that even covered my eyelashes somewhat and my vision was geting worse because of it. Now I can see better, my eyes look great and I can wear eyeliner that you can see now that you were unable to see before. I had no trouble with dry eyes or anything at all, was only out of work for 2 days and that was because I stayed home to put ice packs on my eyes for swelling and to keep my head elevated. I had no pain and no complications at all. I'm sure everyone heals differently so all I can say is be patient and you will overcome all your concerns. I had read all these horror stories before I had the surgery and expected the worse but none of the things they said happened to me, I used no ontiment, no eye drops and feel great and feel great about myself. I now have creases which I didn't have before and I'm 59 years old and people tell me I look 10 years younger. This has been a great experience for me. Good luck to all of you.
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Hi DeLawno,

I wish you'd place the name of the Rx that your office gave you for bruising which seemed to have been effective so that others would also be able to avail of... It will help if you can also offer help to those who may want to have their procedure done.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you Tampa. I appreciate this thread so much. I had upper eyelid surgery on Friday, the 9th and today is my first day back to work. My eyes are very dry and I feel like my lids are really heavy. Things are a blurry and I have a big bump on the outer corner of my right eye although I have had no bruising ... zero. The office gave me something to take for the bruising. Now that I read this thread I am more assured that this is "normal" for only 10 days out ... I was really worried that something was wrong. Thank you again.
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Great news!

I woke up this morning and didn't even think much about it
Until I was about to put my contacts in...
My mini "bump" seem to have subsided!!!
Whooopiiidoooohhhh!!!

So, ProblemPreblem, you may still heal and feel better
As the days go by!
I was super conscious and almost "regretting" my surgery
But, with this latest development,
I just need to share how good it feels
To note that "these things do pass" and
All will be better...

I am praying that you will not only adapt to your situation
But truly heal and feel better about your procedure.

This thread had been a very big source of encouragement for me
Especially Tampa's transparency.
I am hoping that others will feel the same
And be as grateful.
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Oh, Tampa, the bump is really tiny, and not so visible... I think I am just too conscious, paranoid that people are "staring" at my procedure! LoL!!! You see, i have gotten so used to my natural face that I have put my make-up away and now, I feel I need to apply some 'base' to even out the red eyelid that seems to linger longer than necessary! LoL! Although, my doctor had explained that this may be some form of cholesterol deposit... We will see how it goes.
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Your eyes look pretty. I have had extra skin in my upper eye lid area ever since I could remember. Bad genes. I am considering this.
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Wow, problems, problems...I am SO sorry to read about your experience...it sounds pretty traumatic :( Hopefully your new opthamologist can help with you the dry eye issues. When I saw my doctor for my 3 month checkup, he did say it usually takes 6-12 months before the eyes are fully settled to where they will be. I really hope yours will even out. Have you seen your surgeon lately(or will you see him soon) and what has he said about your eyes? After reading more reviews on here, it does seem like a 2nd surgery is not that uncommon, though I know that's the last thing you want to do. I'm so sorry you are experiencing pain all day...that is definitely not normal. I'm one week past you, and I haven't had pain in 2 months. I have a little dryness, but that's about it. Once or twice a week, I'll feel some tightness, but most of the time, I have completely forgotten that I had the surgery done. Did your doctor only cut out skin when he did your surgery, or did he take out fat or muscle as well? I think the more they remove, the more issues are possible. My doctor just took very little skin since my eyes weren't that bad to begin with. And even now, I wonder if he took enough because I still see some hooding(but I am done with surgery!). Hopefully you will see your surgeon for a 12 week post-op soon so he/she can address all of your concerns and issues you are experiencing. Have you thought about going to another surgeon to get a second opinion? I really do hope things get better for you soon and please keep us posted!

Shibumi, did your doctor say what caused your bumps? Are you going to have to keep going back, or will this(hopefully) be the last time? I can understand why he doesn't want to do too much of the injection, but I feel for you because I know how frustrating the "bump" can be! Good luck and please keep us posted! PS- I took some new pics(san makeup) for you and will try and get them posted tomorrow.
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Dear Tampa,
The new opthalmologist is also an occuplastic surgeon and can "fix" the asymmetry of the eyes, if they don't match up in a few months. One is too droopy, FAR too droopy with two folds in the lid, and the other eye is sucked WAY back into my eye socket...so the contrast is quite noticeable.

AS for going back, I went back a couple of times, and that guy "got his money up front" and is NOT concerned at all about my eye pain (Told me do NOTHING but use saline drops and ointment during the DAY) and said the eyes were "fine" and he's seen much worse. (?????!!!!)

His staff and he won't make appts that week, when my eyes were feeling like there was glass in them, and he won't return calls or take calls. His office staff went from helpful/polite/dripping with sweetness to off the cuff comments and sarcasm. NOT kidding. SO SO SO unprofessional and startling!

This morning the sucked up eye has an indentation on the side now...like some filler or fat got flattened out last night while I slept on it, or something. I now notice a few bumbs like Shibumi but I didn't worry about them before, they were the LEAST of my problems, I'd settle for my eyes NOT hurting 24/7, it's going on 12 weeks...they are usually OK for an hour or two upon waking, as they've been slathered with Genteal night ointment, saran wrap and a mask to keep the air out...but when I wake up, they are exposed to the dry air again. Probably have to turn the house into a sauna like atmosphere to find relief..but what about when I leave the house?
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you d better tell us who this guy is...he needs to be avoided. i am so sorry that your surgery didnt go well. Have you got an infection to be in that much pain? With you in spirit....good luck!
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NO infection at all..he just must have cut into fat/muscle or ligaments ...or the heat from the laser damaged the middle layer of my eye.... I saw that on my chart from new doctor...that the middle layer of eye was inflamed...but he didn't even go over it, he just said my eyelids being swollen, were too short, and the air was drying out my eyes ...and that I'm one out of 1000 that have this severe of a case of dried out eyes. I had to keep NIGHTTIME ointment in my eyes ALL Day long in order to keep them OPEN they were in so much pain from the mere air! I couldn't DRIVE for 6 weeks! Over 12 weeks out now, and can go without drops for 30min to three hours...depending on how dry air is...
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you are so unlucky I feel for you. I have dry eyes and swollen red lids too but not nearly as bad as you. Its really horrible when the dr doesnt even seem to care...you know, maybe with time it will all settle down but you might be sick of hearing that. All the best anyway.
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I was scared to keep hearing it and see no reduction in the tubes of heavy night ointment I had to use all day AND night, but now, 12 weeks out, I can SEE and it doesn't ACHE every minute of every waking and sleeping hour ( I had to take Sleep-eze to sleep at night!). I am OPTIMISTIC now, that in time I will be able to SEE well enough and long enough for a ROAD TRIP and won't constantly have 2 bottles of eye drops with me 24/7...LOL!
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Worry over whether or not I will need MORE surgery to correct the vast differences in my two eyes..is a WHOLE OTHER WORRY though...I won't even "go there" for a full 6 months and then might just see if botox or something won't make one eye appear more closed to match the droopier one!
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Dear Problems, Problems

Am sorry about what's going on with your post-procedural experiences. You must be so frustrated! I really hope your healing happens sooner! Although, let me assure you that you are not alone in your 'slow' healing process. My friends, 2 of them to be exact, also takes longer than usual in their healing process. So, here's hoping all will be better for you sooner than later.

Tampa,
I went to see my doctor today again for the "bumps" at the outside tips of my eyes. He injected a little bit of the anti-swelling Rx again. The first ones did the job, but, because he is cautious, he does it little by little as he doesn't want me to have an "indentation" once all the swelling is gone. So, I asked him to inject just a little bit more again as there is still a small lump left. I will let you know after 24 hours the effects of the 'tiny bit' he placed in today.

Thanks for your very helpful updates. I hope my 'bump' goes away.
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I'm eleven weeks out from upper and lower bleph..and my eyes looked like I was in a train wreck for at least FIVE weeks..and I had to hide behind dark glasses and could NOT drive my car because my eyes were so DRY, I couldn't open them without tons of ointment or celluvisc in them! With the the help fo "dryeyes.com", goggles, saran wrap over the eyes every night, a NEW board cert opthomologist I am able to see enough to drive to the grocery store. YOUR eyes look amazing! You were near perfect to begin with, I had VERY droopy lids and under eye bags due to heredity.. Now one of my eyes droops, and the other is "sucked" way back in my head. Hopefully this will even out on "it's own" as having surgery again doesn't sound at all "good" to me. I never heard of the cyst before..so glad it worked out so well for you, after the cyst was removed! I still have to use bottles and bottles of eye drops and ointment and have PAIN all day long in both eyes...was NOT "worth it" to me, the eyes look odd and asymmetrical now, and I don't know if I will ever be able to be free of eye drops and ointment..but my eyelids ARE closing now...due to lots of massage...
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Hi Shibumi, I just went to my doctor for my 3 month check up and he noticed my "bump" right away. He said that sometimes skins cells get under the incision and create a cyst(he actually said it happens in about 1 out of every 10 patients of his). He gave me a numbing injection, cut it open and pulled out the cyst. It look a little longer to get all the lining out(which is necessary so it doesn't come back!). My eye already looks SO much better and the bump is barely noticable at all now. I will take some more makeup free pics and post this week. I think my eyes looks pretty good. You really can't see the incision lines at all, unless you are looking for them. I do still have a little redness at the inner corner of my eyes(which I personally don't mind since I wear makeup). I go see my surgeon one last time(hopefully) in 3 months. As far as uploading pics, I'm sorry but I don't know any special tricks. I just took some pics, saved them on my desktop and uploaded them.
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so reassuring to read this. i am 6 weeks post op and have three large bumps on the inner corners of my eyes. Hopefully my surgeon can do the same as yours did when i see him next week. the swelling is weird, some days it is better than other days when I look like i have conjunctivitis....hopefully this will go over time....
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Hey there, Tampa!
I was hoping you would be sharing some fresh pictures (without make-up) for me to see how ell you have healed. I am 2 months post-op and still feel some form of swelling... I also noticed some form of "bump" on the outer edges of my 'cut' which I took to my doctor to see. He injected a little amount of anti-swelling stuff which I think did the job... Except, he said, we shouldn't do too much for it might end up having an indentation instead when all the swelling is well and done!
People around me say my surgery is not noticeable, but I'm too conscious of the apparent redness I still see...

If you can "teach" me how to upload my photos so you can view what I'm saying, I do not mind sharing.

Lyn12,
I have heard a lot about Arnica... I hope you can post some pix and let me know when you do. I'd love to see how you look.

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Oh Lynn, I also wish I know how to go about this uploading stuff. I would really love to share my before and after pictures to "help ease and comfort" the weary who have had the same procedure we had. Unfortunately, I am not as computer savvy as the some people. I am ever so grateful to Tampa for sharing her experiences and pictures online. She doesn't realize how much help she has been to my recovery. A " Florence Nightingale" in her own right, Tampa is!
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Hi Shibumi
I'm so glad you're doing well. I'm so happy I had my eyes done. I'm just 3 weeks post surgery today. Arnica & Bromlein really helped with the bruising & ice for the swelling. I feel I'm back to normal now with just a little make up for the scar!
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