What amount of time off a physical job can I expect after a mullerectomy?

Question

I'm having a mullerectomy performed on Aug. 6th. to correct a drooping right eyelid. I work in the food industry (direct face-to-face serving). What would be a "reasonable" time to expect to be off work until I should appear reasonable presentable to folks I am serving food to? I know this varies, but I am looking for an educated guess. Thanks.

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD · Answer

A muellerectomy is also accurately called a conjunctival muellerectomy because a portion of both the conjunctiva and underlying Mueller's muscle is removed from underneath the upper eyelid. Sutures must be externalized to the skin to avoid corneal irritation. There are several advantages to this surgery over external anterior levator advancement ptosis surgery. It will take a couple of weeks for the upper eyelid to settle down. Much of the upper eyelid swelling will be trapped in the eyelid until the suture that reapproximates the conjunctiva and muellers muscle is removed 6 to 7 days after surgery. If your surgeon is removing skin at the time of the Muellerectomy, then a second set of sutures will also need to be removed. Dramatic improvement in lid swelling can be seen once the suture is taken down. We generally advise taking 10 days out from work for recovery.

A.J. Amadi, MD · Answer

Obviously every patient is different, but if you are performing an internal mullerectomy without any external skin incision, 7-10 days should be enough time. The bruising should certainly have resolved by then [in most cases] and the swelling though not completely gone, should be settled enough that you would look presentable.

	Icing aggressively for the first 3 days, and not overdoing things physically will help maximize your recovery speed.

Chase Lay, MD · Answer

I've had patients return to work the next day and I've had some take over a week. If you're younger than 60 and in decent health probably less than a week. I depends also if your surgeon plans to have any external knots as part of the procedure. If he/she does, then the knots may be visible but small. It's an internal incision but some surgeons will have the knots on the outside of the eyelid. . .visible. Just ask your surgeon.

What amount of time off a physical job can I expect after a mullerectomy?

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