Is Eyelid Surgery painful? Are patients usually put under general anesthesia or can they be awake?

Pain is generally minimal after upper eyelid surgery and moderate after lower eyelid surgery. Prescription narcotic medications post-OP make most patients very comfortable and most patients are able to switch to OTC Tylenol after a couple of days. Upper eyelid surgery can be performed strictly under local anesthesia without any sedation (fully awake), whereas lower eyelid surgery usually requires some form of sedation or general anesthesia.

Thank you for your question.  Local anaesthetic is strictly used for upper eyelid surgery, due to minimal pain.  It can also be used for lower eyelid as well, however it will depend on patients pain threshold, to whether they opt for local or general anaesthetic for the lower eyelids.  Lower Eyelid Surgery is more sensitive due to removal of excess skin and fat is removed or re-draped to improve the contour of the lower eyelid. Surprising there is little after pain as well.  The vast majority of patients need no more than paracetamol.  Different people heal at different rates, but about 70% of the swelling and bruising is gone after one week.  About 90% of the swelling and bruising is gone after two weeks.  After two weeks, it is often difficult to tell that the patient has had eyelid surgery.Best of Luck 

 Eyelid surgery, in general, is not painful if
done in a skillful manner by a
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon or Oculoplastic Surgeon with expertise in Blepharoplasty.
I would recommend that you have monitored anesthesia by either IV sedation or general anesthesia
to optimize safety during and after the procedure.

Thank you for your question about eyelid surgery.Eyelid surgery typically is not very painful compared to the many other surgeries plastic surgeons do.It usually can be done awake or under general anesthesia.



To be sure, see two or more experienced,
board-certified Plastic Surgeons, occuloplastic surgeons or facial ENT surgeons in your area for a complete evaluation to make sure you are
a good candidate and that it is safe for you to have surgery.



I hope this helps.

Eyelid surgery can be performed under a variety of anesthesia techniques.  The decision of the type of anesthesia to use is up to the surgeon and the patient, and the anesthesiologist if there is one being used for the procedure.  Generally speaking, if the eyelid surgery is the only procedure being done, I believe most surgeons would perform this without general anesthesia.  The procedure can comfortably be done with IV sedation and local anesthesia.  If there are multiple procedures being done, then it is possible that a general anesthesia would be preferable.  For most patients, there is not significant pain after the procedure.  Sometimes Tylenol may be all that is needed or some surgeons may prescribe a stronger pain medication if needed.