5 things to expect from your eyelid surgery recovery

When it comes to cosmetic surgery procedures that are performed on the face, you might not have known that eyelid surgery – also known as blepharoplasty – is one of the most frequently performed such operations. Indeed, you may be looking closely into the possibility of this procedure due to a dissatisfaction with the appearance of your lower or upper eyelids. 

But if you have indeed decided in favour of this type of surgery, what are some of the things you can expect, and that you should be mindful of as you seek to achieve the best results? 

You’ll need to take some time off 

Surely with a procedure like eyelid surgery, you will have the luxury of largely continuing your daily working life while you recover – right? 

Well, not exactly. You can’t depend on healing properly and achieving the best long-term outcome from your surgery if you try to continue with the usual things you would do. 

So, ahead of the actual procedure, we would urge you to have arrangements in place for someone else to cover your main responsibilities – especially anything more strenuous – during the first days of your recovery. 

Recovery is a three-stage process 

How long will it take you to recover from your blepharoplasty? Naturally, the situation will not be exactly the same from one individual to another. But generally speaking, you can expect a three-part recovery process: bruising, swelling, and then maturation of the incision/scar. 

Expect a timeframe of about two to three weeks for the bruising to fade, followed by swelling for a much less predictable period of time – think eight weeks or longer. It might then take as long as a year, or more, for the scars you have from your eyelid surgery to improve to their maximum extent. 

If those seem like long timeframes, it’s worth bearing in mind that many people are able to return to their usual work or other life patterns about five to 10 days after the procedure. Your decisions in this regard, however, should be guided by your comfort level – as we stated above, the situation isn’t exactly the same from one person to the next. 

There shouldn’t be very much pain 

One of the most welcome things about blepharoplasty for many people, is that this isn’t a procedure associated with a great amount of pain. You can generally expect any pain that you do experience to be slight, and manageable with painkillers, as should be provided to you following your surgery. 

Ensure maximum comfort during your recovery with our Eye Mask and Gel Pads 

To ensure you maximise your comfort and dramatically reduce swelling and inflammation of the eyes during your recovery time, use our Eye Mask and Gel Pads. The anatomically designed eye mask and the cooling eye pads work wonders while you rest, speeding up your recovery process. Make sure you order yours before your procedure so you can make the most of them as soon as you are recovering at home.

You should be able to wash your face again about a week afterwards 

The key moment at which you will be able to resume your normal face-washing routine should be a week following the procedure, which is when the sutures (this term referring to the stitching holding together the edges of a surgical incision) are typically removed. 

Before then, you will need to take care, keeping your eyes dry for the first few days after the surgery – after which, you should be able to begin washing them gently using water and soap. 

There should be very little visible scarring 

Scarring is an inevitable consequence of surgical incisions, but with the eyelids being one of the easiest parts of the body to heal, it is also a part of the body where obviously noticeable scarring is least likely to be a problem. Creases in the skin tend to disguise upper eyelid scars, while scars on the lower eyelid are usually barely visible due to being hidden by eyelashes. 

Nonetheless, it’s worth bearing in mind that here at RECOVA, we do make available the blepharoplasty scar reducer serum that will help make any scarring on the eyelid even less noticeable. 

We have an excellent track record of making available products that greatly assist the recovery process from all manner of cosmetic surgery procedures. So, why not browse our online store today to discover the latest solutions we stock, and to benefit from same-day dispatch?