Upper eyelid surgery. Will I be able to hide my surgery when I go back to work?

Question

I'm interested in upper eyelid surgery to correct slightly hooded eyes. I am 27 years old, and can only take 11 days off. Will I be able to hide my surgery when I go back to work??

Janet Turkle, MD · Answer

Hello,You should be able to return to work without any noticeable indication you had eyelid surgery. The incision is made within the natural crease of the upper eye. If there is any remaining bruising, that can be covered with camoflauge makeup.

Stephen H. Fink, DO, FAOCO · Answer

Thank you for your question. Well made and sutured eyelid incisions ultimately heal very well.  Recovery time starts with the avoidance of certain medications and supplements that enhance bruising. Be sure to tell your doctor what you are taking and stop certain supplements and medications up to 2 weeks in advance.  During the surgery, a cautery is usually used to seal off blood vessels that are leaking. The incision is the closed with sutures that can be removed after 5-7 days.  Most bruising and swelling occurs during the first 24-72 hours after the surgery and can take a couple weeks to resolve.  It  is important to limit physical activity, keep your head elevated and apply ice starting immediately after the surgery. Bruises can be covered with make up except on the incision during the first couple weeks. The incisions may be pink and firm for several weeks and should be protected from sun exposure. Although there are no guarantees due to variation in your bodies healing response, many patients are reasonably presentable within a couple weeks or so with makeup.

William Portuese, MD · Answer

Most patients have some degree of visible swelling and bruising for 7 to 14 days after the surgical procedure. With a little bit of makeup and and reading glasses, you should be just fine at 11 days.

Louis W. Apostolakis, MD · Answer

Hello,This depends on the surgeon's technique, skill level, and a bit of luck.  The usual recovery for my patients is that the upper eyelids themselves swell and get purplish for a few days.  The sutures are removed at 5 days at which point the swelling and bruising are nearly gone.  What remains at that point generally is easily taken care of with a little makeup.  You won't be perfect, but the healing issues at 5 days are typically not noticed by the general public.  There will be a pink line where the incision was.  Unfortunately, you can't really do much about that except put makeup on it.  As a young person, that pink line will probably be more easily noticed and you will need to cover it with makeup until it resolves.  This can take several months.  Very rarely, a person may get a true black eye and that may take two weeks to go away.  Avoiding a black eye is mostly accomplished by being very careful with the initial injection of local anesthetic (which is always used even if you have general anesthesia) and using special equipment to do the surgery that seals the blood vessels as you go.Best Regards,Dr. A

Michael Carlisle, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

Nobody is going to give you a money-back-guarntee on this, but most of my patients can go back by 10 days and conceal the upper blepharoplasty incision, bruising and swelling. The incision is easy to hide with makeup. Even the swelling is usually pretty minimal by 10 days, though if you took pictures each day you would notice it improving over 14-20 days...something most people wouldn't notice without a series of pictures each day side by side. The bruising is the issue. Each person bruises a bit differently, but most young people do just fine. It does depend a bit on the luck of the injection during the surgery, but on average the bruising is subsided enough by day 10 that only a tiny bit of yellow is left and can be covered by makeup. In my hands, most people have brushing gone by day 7 because it's so minimal. Keep in mind, good results are more important than a promise of days off work. You'll have to be a bit flexible in case you are in the low percentage group of longer bruising. Best of luck. You'll love this surgery!

Upper eyelid surgery. Will I be able to hide my surgery when I go back to work?

Answers (5)

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