I had an upper blepharoplasty (eye lift) a month ago. AMA

[HermioneWeasley]

The excess skin on my eye lids (particularly the left) had become really bad - couldn’t wear eye make up any more and I decided that since I’m still in my 40s I wasn’t ready to look like droopy and tired yet.

had it done privately in the UK. Had to sleep propped up for 3 nights. Looked like I had been beaten up with bruising and swelling. I started wearing mascara after 2 weeks. Now healing really nicely - there is still a faint pink scar across my eyelids and will be for some time. I still look exactly like me, but you can see my eyelids. I look more alert/ less tired. Absolutely nobody has noticed a difference 😆 but it’s what I wanted. Surgeon recommended a brow lift as well but I decided against it because I didn’t want to look tweaked at all, and I thought people in the photos he provided looked surprised and we didn’t agree on what a natural position for my brows was.

i won’t be posting photos but AMA

I'm Only here for the photos, and you aren't posting any 😭
It's on my list of things to do after I've saved enough to get my teeth fixed.

Where did you have it done, and how much was it?

I was looking for photos too, as I’m considering having it done.
I’m in my 40s too OP and look so tired because of my very droopy lids.

How much did it cost and did you have it under GA or local?

My sister had this done… I think I will do it soon too. Mine are so droopy!

Can we have a little sneaky pic of just one eye even, not your whole face?...
It's on my list too !

Did you have to take a lot of time off work? I’ve been
considering it but not sure how long I’d have to take holiday for! Also was it painful?

Please post photos! I’d love to have this done.
how much was it?
How much time did you need to have off work?

Was it general or local anaesthetic? How much did it cost? Did it hurt or make you squeamish?!

What were the risks of the operation (other than standard risks of anaesthetic)? Is there any risk of damage to the eye?

How long did the bruising take to fade? Did you have to stay inpatient at the hospital? What was after care like?

Did you have hooded eyes before and what do they look like now?

There are loads of before and after photos online so you really don’t need mine. There are also lots of FB groups with people posting photos which are really helpful

risks - it’s an eye operation so there are risk to eyesight etc, but it’s the simplest surgery you can have and complications are very rare. My hospital said they’ve never had a complication. There is a place in Amsterdam called faceland which does it for £600 and while most people are very happy, in the FB group I was in when it went wrong they had almost always been to faceland. “Going wrong” can mean too much skin taken and eyes not shutting fully months later, issues with tear ducts.

I paid £3500 which is quite a lot for the uk- you can definitely get it cheaper. But it suited me for various reasons. I’m in the north of England.

i had tape on my stitches for the first 5 days and stitches came out on day 7. It’s usually 7-10 days for stitches out so expect those to be visible for that time. I had visible bruising for about 2 weeks but not really noticeable behind my glasses after 10 days. I had 2 weeks off work which was the right amount for me. I felt fragile and odd for a week but then back to normal. After care from the hospital was brilliant, can’t fault it. I had an issue with bleeding on the first night and they had me back in for an exam and clean up the following day. They sent me home with a bag of everything I could possibly need - eye wash, eye drops, paracetamol, ice packs for my eyes, antibiotics, extra steri strips etc. I think some places charge extra for this but this was “included” in my much higher than normal rate!

I had it done under local and a diazepam. Actual surgery took about half an hour in total and I was there for about 3 hours in total. When the local wore off I took paracetamol that afternoon but didn’t need anything the next day which I found remarkable, but is very normal. I didn’t love being awake for it all but preferable to complications of GA.

After care was sleeping propped up (I did this for 3 nights and then the hospital said I could sleep as normal). Because of swelling my left eye didn’t close fully for the first few nights so that was odd and uncomfortable. Other than that I just iced them as much as I as I could

I had mine done 14 years ago.
I’ve never regretted it

Can you say which hospital? I am in the north and looking at options. It sounds like you had good care.

It was called “the private hospital” in Leeds. It’s just off the ring road. It’s been over 3 months now and I’m really pleased with the results.