Is Blepharoplasty Safe w/ Herpes Simplex?

In 35 years of eyelid surgery I have never seen this. Tell your surgeon and he will give you an antiviral medication to use.

Dear anon7853,

There are different types of herpes viruses.  Herpes simplex (or HSV) is mainly found in the lips as cold sores.  Herpes zoster (or varicella, aka the chicken pox virus) can affect any number of nerves throughout the body.  If you have simplex, it should not affect your surgery.  If you have had shingles (herpes zoster) around the eye, then this is more of an issue.  Please talk to your surgeon to come up with an effective pre-operative plan.

Best,
Nima Shemirani

The short answer is it is very unlikely that herpes simplex can affect lower transconjuctival blepharoplasty.  Majority of people have herpes simplex in the body/nerves, and I have never seen a herpes simplex outbreak or related problem in patients undergoing eyelid surgery.

Dr Taban

Anon

May suffer from a long term recurrent infection of the eye by the herpes simplex virus.  This is the viruses than produces cold sores that typically affect the lips.  However, it is also possible for the nerves that supply the eye to be involved.  This created a situation where recurrent bouts of herpes damage the affected cornea with scarring.  In severe cases, a corneal transplant can be necessary.  For most though, the herpes just affects the lips or base of the nose.  In either case, the stress of a facial surgery including eyelid surgery can facilitate the development of a cold sore.  Generally it is a good idea to provide prophylactic antiviral coverage after surgery to reduce the risk of a herpes break out.  In dealing with individuals with long term cornea involvement, considerations are more complex because these eyes can be significantly compromised so the wisdom of eyelid surgery must be carefully considered on a case by case basis and specific recommendation can only be make based on a detailed personal consutlation.

It is best to have herpes simplex not present during a blepharoplasty.  It is safest to not have an active breakout at the time of blepharoplasty surgery so as not to get the active herpetic simplex infection into the cornea of the eyeball.