How Will Eyelid Surgery Affect Eyelash Regrowth?

Question

How long does it take eyelashes to grow back after eyelid surgery? Will they grow back in the natural direction?

Rian A. Maercks, MD · Answer

In general having cosmetic eyelid surgery should have no effect on your eyelash growth.  Bleapharoplasty should not disturb the lid margin or lashes.

James R. Gordon, MD, FACS, FAAO · Answer

Thank you for the very good question. Patients are often concerned about their cut lashes or burned lashes following eyelid surgery. The good news is that the lashes grow back normal within 2 months and usually even sooner.

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD · Answer

If you lost lashes after a lower blepharoplasty, it is because the surgeon operated too close the follicles of the eyelashes. Unfortunately the damaged lashes may never grow back. They can also return after being dormant for several months. WHen they do regrow, scar tissue adjacent to the hair follicle can cause the lash to be misdirected. Latisse will not benefit this situation. First Latisse should not be used on the lower eyelid. Second, if the lash follicle is damaged, stimulating it with Latisse still will not make an eyelash grow. Eyelash transplants are a very bad idea because the graft hair growth too long too rapidly and can end up irritating the eye.

Julian De Silva, MD · Answer

When performed by a skilled and
experienced plastic surgeon, eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, should not
affect eyelash growth. If, for some reason, the eyelash hair follicles are
damaged during the procedure and scar tissue arises, it can impede eyelash
growth. Generally with careful surgery the risk of damaging the eyelashes should ever very small. If you have had eyelid surgery and
are losing your lashes, follow up with your surgeon.

Jeffrey Epstein, MD, FACS · Answer

The eyelashes should not be impacted by blepharoplasty, unless they are inadvertently transected, in which case they should regrow.

Chris Thiagarajah, MD · Answer

To answer your question, eyelashes are not affected by eyelid surgery in general. If the eyelashes happen to be cut during surgery, it takes about 6 weeks for them to grow back.

Andrea Nowonty Hass, MD · Answer

You should not see a significant long-term change in your eyelashes after surgery. Sometimes the trauma of surgery can kick a lot of the lashes into a dormant growth phase where they are not actively growing and thus you might see a thining of the lashes for even a few months. However the lashes should return to normal unless there was direct injury to the lash follicles in which case the re-growth will depend on the extent of the trauma. As the old saying goes - 'time will tell'

Robert L. Kraft, MD, FACS · Answer

Unless the hair follicle is breached, the eyelashes should not need to grow back.  If the follicles are damaged, then the result would remain to be seen.  It is important to undergo blepharoplasty by a board certified plastic or oculoplastic surgeon.   I do not recommend Latisse at this time because of potential risks.  I do not think that our knowledge of the longterm effects of this product is adequate.  It already contains a disclaimer that it can change eye color and I doubt that my blue and green eyed patients would want brown eyes.

Tom J. Pousti, MD · Answer

Thank you for the question.

	Generally added surgery does not affect eyelashes  unless the eyelashes are injured/cut during the procedure. If this is the case then it is unpredictable whether the eyelashes will regrow. If they do we grow they should regrow back in the natural direction.

	I hope this helps.

Edwin Ishoo, MD · Answer

This is completely unpredictable and has to do with loss of the actual hair follicle due to incision or cautery vs. shortening of the eyelash hair without damaging the follicle. In the latter scenario it may take a couple of months and you may benefit from using Latiise to expedite the growth and thickening. In the case of loss of the entire follicle, regrowth may not occur and you may after 3-6 months decide to have eyelash transplant if really obvious or camouflage with make up.

How Will Eyelid Surgery Affect Eyelash Regrowth?

Answers (10)

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