How Long Does an Upper Eyelid Surgery Usually Take?

Typical upper blepharoplasty times are under one hour. Only a few minutes is added if fat needs to be removed. If additional procedures are being performed through the upper blepharoplasty incision, this may take additional time. Corrugator myotomies can be performed as well as other procedures. Be sure to discuss with your surgeon exactly what procedure he is performing.

Dear Brook
I like you surgeon and I don't even know who it is. Speed is really unimportant. What is important is doing meticulous work and not having a crowded surgery schedule compromise the care that is provided to each and every patient. If you don't think that surgeons compromise what they do to get through a busy or schedule, think again. It happens all the time. I would much rather have a surgeon who is focused on what they are doing for me and not focused on the clock and the last case of the day.
I have a colleague in my community who boasts that he does a four eyelid blepharoplasty or quad bleph (both upper eyelids and both lower eyelids) in 30 minutes. I have seen him operate and it is true. Believe me when I tell you that you do not want to have your blepharoplasty done in 30 minutes! This surgery will hopefully last if not a life time certainly for years and years. What difference does it matter if the surgery takes an extra 30 to 60 minutes. It is much better to get it right.
The overall effect of an of a blepharoplasty is very much determined by a multitude of small details each of which requires thought and attention. Compromise this and the result is a mediocre surgical result at best. Many surgeons performing eyelid surgery lack a sufficient understanding of these issues to even know what they are missing.
You have probably heard the expression measure twice and cut once. When I do an upper blepharoplasty, I measure and design my planned skin incision during the preoperative examination which can take an hour not including the consent process. Just prior to surgery, I will make some preliminary eyelid marks in the preoperative holding area.
Once I have placed local anesthetic in the eyelid in the operating room, I let the tissues settle for 15 minutes. Then, I remeasure the design of the skin excision with a caliper. It is critical that the lowest incision of the blepharoplasty be marked at exactly the same place on each eyelid above the eyelashes. The shape of the upper excision mark is also very important and warrants the same type of meticulous attention. It is not at all unusual for me to spend 20 or 30 minutes getting this right and that is before I have even picked up a scalpel!
Many surgeons think that blepharoplasty is only about cutting out skin and fat. They are not great eyelid surgeons. Little details have great consequences such as when the skin excision is performed does one remove both the skin and the underlying muscle or just the skin alone (indiscriminate removal of the underlying muscle unnecessarily weakens the ability of the eyelid to blink). How much fat is appropriate to take?(Not nearly as much as we used to take)
Many patients presenting for blepharoplasty have a degree of upper eyelid ptosis because there is slippage of the upper eyelid tendon. To tighten the tendon, the deeper eyelid structures need to be exposed. To support the eyelid platform and the upper eyelid lashes so they perk up with surgery, it is necessary to identify this tendon and reconnect the cut edge of the eyelid platform with the tendon, a procedure call anchor blepharoplasty. Lower eyelid surgery considerations are even more complicated.
So when you surgeon says that it might take 1 1/2 to 3 hours to do your upper eyelid surgery they are absolutely correct. A thoughtfully performed upper blepharoplasty can easily require this much time. Let them take all the time they need for you.
Dr. Steinsapir