Had a lower blepharoplasty consultation, the doctor said he would put in "bolsters" on the outside of my face. Is that typical?

Thanks for your question. There is a type of lower lid blepharoplasty that involves fat transposition or fat re-positioning to improve the look of your tear trough area. There are different ways of performing this particular procedure, but one of the ways involves using the bolsters that are sewn to the outside of your face. Depending on your exam, there are many techniques that do not involve bolsters as well. But, this is quite typical and I do this frequently in my practice. Rest assured that this does not cause any external scarring. The only downside is having the bolsters on your face for about 5 days (give or take, depending on your surgeon).

This is a normal thing. As others have mentioned bolsters are like a small padding for sutures that are temporarily tied outside of the skin.Certain techniques of transconjunctival lower lid surgery that include fat repositioning (also called fat transposition) will use sutures to help secure the repositioned fat, and those are temporarily tied outside the skin even though the work can all be done through an incision hidden within the eyelid.

Hello DT3519, Thank you for sharing your concerns and your question.  Blepharoplasty can be performed in different ways, but if fat repositioning is being performed then the fat may be secured with internal or external fixation.  With external fixation, the sutures are brought out through the skin, and a bolster can be used as a cushion for the sutures against the skin.  These sutures are temporary and typically removed after around a week.  I hope you have found this helpful.All my best!Dr. Elizabeth