Sutures Not Dissolving on Upper Eyelids?

The upper eyelids are exquisitely sensitive.  The skin around this area can be easily perturbed.  Dissolving sutures have the following distinct disadvantages:

More reactive to surrounding skin

Unpredictable absorption pattern- may dissolve earlier or later than ideal.  If sutures dissolve too late, can cause abnormal scarring such as track marks

Limited in how small suture size-  Due to the fragility of the material of dissolving sutures, they can not make a suture as small in diameter as a permanent suture.

Due to those factors, I do not use dissolving sutures in upper eyelid surgery.  Permanent sutures, which are removed later, are a more predictable choice offering less irritation (some of these sutures are used in heart valve surgery), predictability, and allowing the use of extremely small size sutures.

I'm a Cosmetic Oculofacial (Speciaizing in Eyelid and Facelift Surgery) Plastic Surgeon practicing for 15 years with offices in Manhattan's Upper Eastside. If the dissolving stitches are 6-0 fast absorbing plain gut sutures, they should be well dissolved by 9 days after habing your eyelift and facelift. In my practice, I usually see my patients in 5-7 days to clear off any dissolving stitches which haven't completely dissolved.

The dissolving sutures can sometimes irritate the skin sometimes. The solution is simple. Have your surgeon remove them.