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| BLEPHAROPLASTY / Eye Lid Post Op Instructions |
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Your incisions will be closed with a blue suture under the skin that enters and exists at the ends. They will be removed in the office on the 6-8th day after surgery. You should wash your face, but do not “scrub” the incisions. If the incisions are crusty you may also use a Q-tip with soap and water. Do not use peroxide because this could irritate the eye. Apply a very thin layer of Vaseline or Aquephor to the incisions 2-3 times per day to minimize crusting. Please call the office to schedule your first post op appointment if it was not already set up preoperatively.
You will need to keep your head elevated between 48-72 degrees at all times after your surgery (even to sleep). You may do this with extra pillows or in a recliner chair. Try to sleep on your back.
You will be very swollen and bruised for several days after your surgery. If you have a considerable increase in swelling, or if one side swells significantly more than the other, please call the office. You may use ice packs for 20 minutes at a time (i.e., 20 min on and 40 min off). Frozen vegetables make excellent ice packs. (Please note; it will be several weeks before all the swelling has subsided.) Elevation and ice may help reduce the amount of bruising and swelling.
You will receive prescriptions for an antibiotic and pain medications once you are discharged. Please take the full course of the antibiotic as directed. When it is completed, you do not need another prescription for antibiotics. Sometimes eye drops or ointment for the eye is prescribed.
Please call the office if you have any redness that spreads away from the incision(s)/surgical area(s), if the area feels “hot” to the touch, if you run a fever of 101.5 degrees or higher, (it is normal to run a low-grade fever after surgery), or if you have any green, black, yellow or odorous discharge from the incision area(s). Sometimes you may have a foreign body sensation in the eye particularly after lower eyelid surgery. If it is severe of getting worse please call. Of course if you have any sudden vision changes please call the office.
