It’s no secret that as we age, our skin loses its elasticity and becomes loose. Droopy eyelids are the major reason that let people consider blepharoplasty eyelid surgery to tighten and remove excess eyelid skin to get a youthful appearance. Also, blepharoplasty surgery helps in improving one’s vision by providing a less obstructed view. Eyelid plastic surgery removes excess skin and muscle from the upper and lower eyelids. Are you also suffering from the same issue and wondering the best solution for it? Visit plastic surgery center in Chicago and get done your treatment under the guidance of an award-winning and double board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Dhaval Patel.

What eyelid surgery can treat?

• Loose or sagging skin that sometimes impair vision

• Fatty deposits making eyelids look puffy

• Bags under the eyes

• Excess skin as well as wrinkles of the lower eyelid

Who is a good candidate for eyelid surgery?

It is very important to choose the best plastic surgeons before sitting for any cosmetic and plastic surgery. If you are looking for plastic surgery in Chicago or Illinois, CI plastic surgery clinic provides Top IL Cosmetic Surgery to the patients. In this plastic surgery clinic, all surgeries are carried out under the guidance of a plastic surgeon Mr. Dhaval Patel who is a winner of Multiple Patient's choice, best plastic surgeon in Chicagoland area and Realself top 100 surgeon awards. Good candidates for eyelid surgery include:

• Healthy individuals with no serious medical conditions that can obstruct healing

• Non-smokers

• Person having a positive outlook and realistic goals

• Individuals without serious eye conditions

How long blepharoplasty lasts?

Before sitting for eyelid surgery, one doubt comes to every patient that they want to ask blepharoplasty surgeons: Will the results of eyelid surgery be permanent? Well, upper eyelid surgery can last up to five to seven years. Lower eyelid surgery need not be repeated in most of the cases.                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Even after eyelid surgery if your lids sag again, a forehead lift surgery should be preferred rather than another droopy eyelid surgery.

What happens during droopy eyelid surgery?

During blepharoplasty eyelid surgery, incisions are made in the natural folds of the upper and lower eyelid. These incisions are virtually unnoticeable once the patient recovered.

While you are lying down during blepharoplasty surgery, your eyelid surgery specialist will make precise markings on the natural folds of eyelids to remove excess skin and fat pads. Some underlying muscles also may be removed.

Eyelid surgeons remove these tissues with surgical instruments such as scalpels, surgical scissors, radio-frequency cutting devices and sometimes cutting lasers. Then, sutures or tissue adhesives are carefully applied around the eyebrows and eyelids.

Recovery From Blepharoplasty

After eyelid plastic surgery, topical antibiotic ointment will be applied by the eyelid surgeons.

On the first day after the upper and lower eyelid surgery, a patient should apply cold packs each hour for about 10-15 minutes at a time. Ice reduces the swelling and keep bruising to a minimum. Keep repeating the procedure until swelling gets reduced. After 48 hours, warm compresses should be given to the affected area to promote faster healing. Eyelid surgery specialist will instruct you about what medication to take if needed.

A patient after the eye plastic surgery may have to go through a mild discomfort during the immediate recovery period. But if you are getting severe pain or any vision changes occur, visit the plastic surgery clinic to consult your eyelid surgery specialist immediately.

At the beginning of eyelid surgery recovery process, a patient’s eye area will become red with swollen eyes. The whites of the eyes (sclera) also become red and bloodshot which may take a few weeks for healing. Remember one thing that during the recovery time you should not apply any eye makeup else the result can be disastrous. Once the recovery is over, you can resume wearing contact lenses and your eye makeup.

Often the sutures used in the eyelid surgery procedure will dissolve on their own within four to seven days so don’t try to remove them. And if non-dissolving sutures are used, eyelid surgeons will remove them within about a week after blepharoplasty surgery procedure.

Possible Complications of Eyelid Surgery

A possible complication that a patient may face after eyelid surgery is the temporary inability to close eyelids completely, which makes eyes become abnormally dry.

Usually, it takes a few weeks or months for this condition to get resolved and for that time period, patient would need remedies such as eye drops, humidifiers and taping the eyes at night to provide lubrication. Some eyelid surgeons will give a massage to your eyelids for a couple of weeks after the stitches get removed that will allow better closure of upper and lower eyelids.

But if the condition persists beyond 2-3 months, eyelid surgeons may suggest an additional procedure to restore enough skin to the eyelid and enable complete closure of the patient’s eye.

Other potential complications of blepharoplasty surgery include:

• Vision loss from retrobulbar hemorrhage

• Eyelid infection

• Double vision

• Noticeable surgical scarring

• Eyelid Malposition

• Under-correction (not removing enough of the excessive skin)

We hope the information provided here has helped you a lot in understanding what blepharoplasty surgery is and how much time it can take for the recovery process.