How Painful is Eyelid Surgery?

The eyelid surgery itself is quite painful during the procedure, and therefore is done under a general anesthetic. The fat pads on the upper and lower lids have deep proprioceptive pain fibers that will not numb up to the lidocaine and should not be done under a local anesthesia. The recovery period for eyelids is not painful at all; most patients only take a very few pain pills in their entire postoperative period.

Of course this is somewhat related to what specifically is done. Some eyelid surgery on the lower lid requires lifting tissue off the bone or putting sutures from the lid tendon to the bone and this can be more painful. Usually, it is quite well tolerated and cold compresses on a frequent time schedule post-op can help mitigate discomfort tremendously. Skin removal only is nearly painless and pain medication requirements are very limited. Most patients do exceedingly well. In fact, symptoms of pain may be related to complications rather than the normal course of recovery.