How Well Does Scar Tissue on Upper Eyelid Heal?

When performing eyelid surgery, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon will make the incision inside the crease of the eyelid and suture underneath the lid, where the stitches cannot be seen. It is also fortunate that the skin on the eyelid is very thin and heals so well that the scars will be virtually invisible. Massaging the scar, once it's healed, can help break down the collagen and make it blend into surrounding skin faster.

It's important to understand that all incisions heal with some scarring, but the eyelid skin is thin and has unique qualities that tend to minimize scarring. In the immediate post-operative period, eyelid incisions tend to be red and raised. These scars tend to respond nicely to massage and avoidance of sun exposure. In the vast majority of patients, these scars heal nicely and are almost imperceptible.Occasionally internal sutures are used for structural purposes. These sutures are always absorbable sutures that dissolve with the passage of time. In the majority of cases, these sutures can't be felt and the internal scar softens with time. If you're concerned about scarring, it's important to discuss this issue with your plastic surgeon prior to surgery.

As a rule the skin of the eyelids heals very well with a nearly imperceptible scar.  The sutures, which are all run under the skin are removed in 4 -5 days.  The scarring which occurs under the surface of the skin will mature, as all scars do and not be visible nor able to be felt.  Any sutures used in the deeper tissues of the eyelids are dissolvable.