For How Long Do I Have to Use a Sunscreen on my Upper Eyelid Surgery Scars?

Care is needed with your blepharoplasty incision because it is a very sensative area.  Following a Blepharoplasty, sunscreen is very important because the sun can make the incision more red or dark in color, which can take several months to resolve.  You should apply it frequently on your upper eye lids for a period of 6 months after surgery.

Hello! Thank you for your question! After any surgical procedure, you should be careful with incisions as well as avoidance of direct UVA and UVB rays in order to lessen the chance for hyperpigmentation of the skin and scars, which can take several months to resolve, if it ever does. Sunblock is recommended regardless. The ability of the affected area to heal has been slowed and you should try to avoid additional swelling to the area. The area will likely be numb for several weeks to months and will be difficult to feel when sunburn is coming on. Typical recommendations include wearing a hat and/or sunblock to the affected area for at least 6-12 weeks following the procedure. It takes up to one year for scars to fully mature. You should also avoid trauma to the area for several months to protect the refinements made during the procedure. Also, avoidance of pools/lakes/jacuzzis/etc for 4-6 weeks is usually recommended to allow adequate healing and protection from stagnant water, that could potentially harbor bacteria. Lifting/exercise restrictions are common for at least 7 weeks. Certainly discuss the postoperative instructions with your surgeon, as thoughts differ among surgeons. Hope that this helps! Best wishes!

You should use sunscreen indefinitely unless you are using UVA/UVB protected eye glasses.  Your skin should have some kind of UV protection, either mechanically or chemically.  This will protect your investment and assist in prevention of further damage.

Of course it is a good idea to apply sunscreen to any sunexposed area on a daily basis.  Scars can very rarely develop darkness or hyperpigmentation so I tell patients to be very careful about sunexposure and apply sunscreen to the scars at least for the first year.   Some redness to a scar 7 weeks after surgery is normal and it will usually fade by 3 months. 

Sunscreen is always a good idea (so is selling you convertible if your have one).  What your surgeon was concerned about was that your upper eyelid scars would hyperpigment after the surgery.  This is not generally something that we see.  If you have a history of hyperpigmentation, then the concern is more legitimate.  Persistent redness in a young scar can be improved with laser treatment  and you might discuss this with your surgeon.

It is advised to use sunscreen on scars until the scars have completely faded.  If they are still red or purplish, you should continue to use sunscreen on the area.  Of course it is always advisable to use sunscreen.  But particularly you should avoid sun completely on any bruising.  There are many different sunscreens on the market.  I recommend Elta MD as it is medical grade, non-chalky, and paraben free.

Sunscreen is always a good idea - it can help to prevent premature aging of the skin, as well as to protect you from sun-damage-related skin cancers. That being said, I rarely ask my patients to put suncreen on their upper eyelid incisions- this type of incision is generally protected in the natural lid crease when your eyes are open. The scars may be red for some weeks after surgery as part of the healing process, but then tends to settle down and fade to your natural skin color. I suspect you will begin to notice this change soon, but if your are concerned, you should not hesitate to speak with your surgeon about this.

Protecting immature scars from UV exposure is always a good idea.  Having said that, sunscreen can be very irritating if it gets into the eyes.  With perspiration and rubbing of your eyelids this is more frequent a problem than not.  Furthermore, the natural creases of your lids often will conceal your scars from sun exposure.  Stay practical minimize exposure if possible for 6 monhts and use sunglasses/shades.

In general, I recommend sunscreen be applied to all incision sites (once they've healed) for a period of six-months after surgery.  The rationale for this is that scars exposed to the sun have a tendency to get very tanned (hyper-pigment) initially and in some instances bleach-out/turn white (hypo-pigment) later on.  This obviously draws attention to the scars and makes them extremely visible.

That being said, eyelids are a privileged site in the sense that the incision is well hidden and nearly always heals beautifully.  Only in very rare circumstances do eyelid scars hyper- or hypo-pigment (increase or decrease in their darkness).  The only times I've seen this is amongst patients who use tanning salons and do not use eye protection, or in patients who spend a lot of time sunbathing - both of which are bad ideas if you want to stay looking youthful and prevent skin cancer. 

Bottom line, if you don't live in an extremely sunny climate and don't spend much time in the sun, then you can likely skip the sunscreen on your eyelids and wear eye-covering sunglasses.  If you do live where it's really sunny, enjoy many outdoor activities, or simply want to keep your skin looking its best, then you should be using a skin moisturizer with sunscreen (Sun Protection Factor-SPF 30 or greater) that can also be applied to your eyelids - this will keep your skin looking young, help prevent skin cancer, and finally, keep your incisions looking inconspicuous. 

Dear Brook,
I generally don't ask my patients to put sunscreen on their eyelids after surgery as it can be irritating, although I do recommend hats and sunglasses to limit exposure. Also, as the incisions generally lie on your natural eyelid crease, they are usually hidden in your skin folds when your eyes are open! You will notice more and more fading in the next 6 weeks or so. Massaging firmly may help it along. Don't hesitate to show your surgeon if you are still concerned. Good luck!

Jasmine Mohadjer MD
Oculoplastic Surgeon
Tampa Bay, FL