How Sucessful and Painful is an Eye Bag Removal/upper Eyelift & How Long Recovery?

Eyelid surgery, in general, is not a painful operation/recovery as most people only need tylenol for the first day.  Almost all of the brusing and most of the swelling is resolved by 2 weeks after surgery.  Complete healing can take longer, depending on type of surgery. Consult an oculoplastic surgeon.

An eye bag removal or upper eyelift procedure is also known as a blepharoplasty.  This procedure is very common and usually the results are great.  There is minimal to no pain and the patient often takes no pain medicine at all.  The stitches begin to dissolve in 3-5 days and the most patients recover in 7-10 days.  Eyelid surgery is great in that you can really rejuvenate your appearance and remove the tired appearance you may have with a relatively quick, painless procedure.  Be sure to see a board certified facial plastic or plastic surgeon who has a lot of experience in eyelid surgery.

is one of the more common cosmetic and functional surgeries. Postoperatively you will have mild to moderate discomfort, and brusing/swelling that lasts 1-2 weeks.

Some patients [especially older patients] will tend to have swelling that may even last a few weeks to a couple of months.

Upper and lower blepharoplasty recovery and pain is minimal. I had mine done and took a tylenol and was seeing patients the next day. Of course the bruising took a week to go away.

Maggie

Eyelid surgery is so comfortable, it can be performed under local anesthesia.  Minimal pain medication is needed the first night.  After that narcotic is not typically needed.  Bruising and swelling are common.  Typically it is about 10 days before you are at a point were others do not ask you what you have just had done.  Generally, I let my patients return to work as soon as they feel able.  For a desk job where they are not in the public eye, that can be a week later.  If you are doing physical work, I delay to 10 to 14 days.  Vigorous physical exertion can resume at 21 days.  It is common to have subtle swelling of the eyelid until about 2 months after surgery.

Upper eyelid surgery, also known as an upper blepharoplasty, is performed under a brief general anesthetic. The incision is placed in the upper eyelid crease and closed with dissolvable sutures.  Patients tend to have approximately 10 days of swelling and bruising, although variable (after the surgery).  The surgery is not painful and most patients only need to take pain pills the first couple days after surgery to help with the discomfort.

As my colleagues have alluded to, procedures around the eyes usually do quite well and last very long.  Aging doesn't stop and if your brows descend or your upper lids age more, you could develop excess skin on the lid again.  Your lower lids can develop wrinkles as well with aging.  You should consider some exfoliant such as Retin A following lower lid surgery. 

Regardless, if and when excesses develop, they are easily resolved with additional procedures.

Eyelid surgery is usually very successful when the patient and the physician have the same goals.  Make sure you discuss your goals with your physician.  In terms of pain, most patients do not have much, however, this can be very variable.  Recovery can also be variable and a lot will depend on what is done and your physical findings.

Eyelid surgery in general is not too uncomfortable.  Sutures usually stay in for 3-5 days. Swelling and bruising may persist for a week to ten days in most cases.

Generally, eyelid surgery involving excess skin removal and reduction in peri-orbital fat is very well tolerated, can be performed in the office with local anesthesia and minimal oral sedation and return to function within 2-3 days with complete resolution of acute swelling and bruising within 7-10 days. However, there are many considerations in performing upper and lower Blepharoplasty surgery including pre-existing ptosis, decreased lower lid tone, dry eyes, extent of fat bulging and if there will be re-draping or just excision of the fat, if there is need for release of arcus marginalis, cantopexy and canthoplasty and other maneuvers to correct deformities and achieve optimal results. The discussion regarding recovery is specific to the patient's needs, expectations and the surgeons skill level and cannot be over generalized as it becomes inappropriate and irrelevant to a specific individual seeking this procedure. The most important consideration is finding a highly skilled surgeon specializing in this procedure.