Thank you for your question! I understand you had Asian Eyelid surgery in Vietnam and you were prescribed Natri Chloride and Povidine for the daily cleaning of your upper eyelids. Since it’s only sold in Vietnam, you’re asking if there’s an alternative cleaning solution that you can use.To give you a bit about my background — I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and a Fellowship-trained oculoplastic and reconstructive surgeon, practicing in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years. I specialize in Asian eyelid surgery so think I can certainly give you some guidance on this.You were prescribed this combination of Natri Chloride and Povidine to keep your sutures clean and free from infection. Natri Chloride is essentially a sodium chloride or sterile saline solution, while Povidone is an iodine solution that helps keep the incisions clean. If you’d like to continue with your doctor’s regimen, then finding a sterile sodium chloride solution should be fairly straightforward, as you can usually get it at a local pharmacy without a prescription. If you’re unsure of which kind to buy, you can simply ask the pharmacist for assistance.What we do in my practice, however, is slightly different. I basically have our patients just wash their face normally and then have them apply an antibiotic ointment to the stitches. In about a week, we take the stitches out. This is another option you could look into. You could try to contact your doctor and see if you can get advice on getting an antibiotic ointment to just maintain a clean area and to help the incision heal before sutures are removed.I hope that was helpful and I wish you the best of luck!
