Can you leave eyelash extensions in place if you are planning to have blepharoplasty performed?

I typically advise people to remove them prior to surgery. The first risk as pointed out by my colleagues is infection from bacteria living on the eyelash extensions. The other risk is that cautery used to stop any bleeding can ignite synthetic extensions. At a minimum it is possible for cautery to melt or change the shape/ appearance of the extensions. It's safer to have them temporarily removed. I hope this information is helpful.Stephen Weber MD, FACS

Of course we clean the skin surface with betadine. However, bacteria live and grow at the interface between the lashes and the lash extensions. It is very difficult to kill the bacteria with a skin prep at these interfaces. So the lash extensions are a source of bacterial contamination of the eyelid surgery. This is best controlled by the removal of the lash extensions. The same is true for hair extensions and face lift or forehead surgery. Another good reason to remove the lash extensions is to facilitate the performance of anchor blepharoplasty aimed at correcting lash ptosis.

You can leave eyelash extensions in place, but you may lose quite a few lashes during the prep and surgery. The eyelids and face are cleaned, usually with betadine, before surgery, which may dislodge some of the lash extensions. If you don't have them, wait until several weeks after surgery. If they need to be redone, also wait until several weeks after surgery.