Upper Blepharoplasty

1. Understanding Your Goals

• Your priorities: The consultation starts with what you would like to change, what matters most to you and what you hope surgery will achieve.

2. Clinical Assessment

• Clinical assessment: Dr Mercer assesses anatomy, tissue quality, asymmetry, scars and any factors that may affect the operation or healing.

3. Options, Limits & Planning

• Options and limits: Suitable surgical options, likely scars, trade-offs and realistic outcomes are discussed rather than assuming that surgery is the right answer.
• Planning: If you choose to proceed, clinical photography, measurements and a personalised operative plan are completed before a surgery date is confirmed.

Before surgery

• Eye history: Dry eye, contact lens use, previous eye surgery and visual symptoms are reviewed.
• Brow assessment: The surgeon checks whether apparent eyelid heaviness is partly caused by brow descent.
• Medicines and nicotine: Follow individual preoperative instructions.

Anaesthesia

• Anaesthesia: Upper blepharoplasty can be performed under local anaesthesia with or without sedation, or under general anaesthesia depending on the plan.

Eyelid surgery

• Marking: Skin is marked while you are upright.
• Excision: A conservative ellipse of skin is removed; fat is treated only if needed.
• Closure: Fine sutures close the crease incision and are usually removed within the first week.

Days 1–7

• Appearance: Bruising and swelling are most noticeable during the first few days; sutures are usually removed during the first week.

Weeks 2–3

• Social recovery: Most bruising has faded and makeup can often be used once healing permits.

Weeks 4–6

• Exercise: Normal exercise is gradually resumed.

2–3 months

• Scar: The crease scar softens and redness continues to fade.

First week

• Cold compresses: Use cool compresses as directed and sleep with your head elevated.
• Eye care: Use prescribed ointment or drops and avoid rubbing the eyelids.

Weeks 2–4

• Makeup and lenses: Resume eye makeup and contact lenses only when the incisions and ocular surface are comfortable and healed.
• Sun protection: Protect the fine eyelid scars from strong sunlight.

Early review

• What happens: The team checks wounds, swelling, comfort and any dressings during the first postoperative period.

1–2 weeks

• What happens: Incisions and early healing are reviewed; sutures or dressings are removed when appropriate and activity guidance is updated.

6 weeks

• What happens: Dr Mercer reviews recovery, scars and return to exercise, and checks that healing is progressing as expected.

3–6 months

• What happens: Progress photographs may be taken as swelling settles and scars continue to mature.

Around 1 year

• What happens: A longer-term review can be used to assess the mature result once tissues and scars have fully settled.