Excessively eye discharge after 1 month eyelid suture method? (Photos)

Hello,
I would recommend following up closely with your surgeon to ensure the best results.    

Thank you for your question. You submitted two photos, stating  it has been 1 month after you’ve had Asian eyelid surgery using the suture technique with some fat removal. You state you did have some dry eye before surgery. You are noticing this mucus discharge every day, particularly in the morning, and you wear soft contact lenses. You’re asking about what is going on.
In the absence of a physical exam, I can share with you how I counsel my patients operatively and postoperatively, particularly those who wear contact lenses. A little background: I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years. Asian eyelid surgery is something I perform fairly routinely, both incisional and non-incisional, as well as non-Asian eyelid surgery to help people improve their eye appearance, whether it’s upper lid ptosis, extra skin, or under eye bags. Having an ophthalmology background certainly has worked to my advantage in guiding patients who concurrently have dry eyes.
It’s very important to understand that even though you have a bit of dry eye before surgery, you are probably capable of producing enough tears to tolerate contact lenses, which is a good thing. One thing to understand is it is not unusual to have some degree of dry eye after eyelid surgery. When you are working in the eye area, even though you may have no problem with eye closure or anything dealing with exposure, it is typical to have some degree of decreased tear production after eyelid surgery. I explain to my patients who already have dry eyes if they’re not contact lens wearers, to use liberal amounts of artificial tears before surgery and after. I tell them to use the artificial tear drops with meals as it’s easier to remember: breakfast, lunch, dinner, then at bedtime. This way, at least they’re getting drops to help lubricate the eyes.
Mucus production can be a reflection of that dryness, and an increase in relative friction between the eyelid and the contact lens. Your body produces more mucus as a way to help compensate for the dryness.
The other possibility I’m sure your doctor already checked out is when you do suture technique or non-incisional Asian eyelid surgery, it is pretty much the norm to place a suture from the outside, flip the eyelid, and pass it through the surface over the eye, then pass the suture back. There could be the relatively low risk of  suture exposure, but it is something when you’re doing this surgery, you make sure it isn't the case. The technique of non-incisional Asian eyelid surgery when you place the stitch going through, then put the suture back into the same opening or same area, especially after the sutures are tied, it is very hard for those sutures, unless they get exposed or unraveled, to ever touch the eyes- it’s very rare. Just to make sure, it’s good to m have your doctor check that out. Generally, if there was a suture touching the eye, you would feel it and it would be extremely uncomfortable.
It seems more likely this is just a reflection of relative dryness associated with eyelid surgery, and so for non-contact lens wearers, I tell them to use lubricating drops liberally. For contact lenses, you always need drops that are specific for contact lens wearers. Otherwise, periodically, depending on how you feel, you may want to take a break from the contact lenses for the tear production for your eyes to go back to normal baseline.
Discuss this with surgeon, as well as with your eye doctor to make sure you get the optimal lubricating regimen done so you can really get the proper lubrication of your eye surface. As the months go by, these symptoms should improve. I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck, and thank you for your question.This personalized video answer to your question is posted on RealSelf and on YouTube. To provide you with a personal and expert response, we use the image(s) you submitted on RealSelf in the video, but with respect to your privacy, we only show the body feature in question so you are not personally identifiable. If you prefer not to have your video question visible on YouTube, please contact us.