The bad side of eyelid surgery

In 2005, blepharoplasty or cosmetic eyelid surgery was listed as the third most popular surgical procedure among men and women by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). Over 230,000 operations were performed in the United States alone.

In the United Kingdom, the same ...In 2005, blepharoplasty or cosmetic eyelid surgery was listed as the third most popular surgical procedure among men and women by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). Over 230,000 operations were performed in the United States alone.

In the United Kingdom, the same procedure proved to be even more popular. A similar survey showed blepharoplasty was the second most popular surgical procedure for both men and women with an increase of over 50 percent in the number of cases from the previous year.

“Cosmetic surgery is more popular than ever. Moreover, it is no longer just for the rich and famous. More and more people everyday are opting for plastic surgery to improve their looks and hopefully their lives,” according to an article in the web page of the Hilton Head Regional Medical Center in South Carolina.

In blepharoplasty, fat, excess skin, and muscle are removed from the eyelids to lift drooping upper eyelids and reduce puffy eye bags that form under the eyes. Upper and lower eyelid surgery can be done at the same time. The procedure costs anywhere from $1,500 to $7,000 and can be done in a hospital, surgical center or office. It normally lasts from one to three hours using general or local anesthesia or sedation.

Like other surgical methods, however, blepharoplasty has risks and complications, and not everyone will benefit from the procedure. Among the many possible bad things a patient can experience after the operation are bleeding, blindness, blurred vision, double vision, difficulty closing the eyes, dry eyes, excessive tearing, and scarring.

“Complications of eyelid surgery, while rare, can cause prolonged healing, change in or loss of vision, unpleasant - looking and painful scars, the inconvenience and cost of further surgery, and the possibility of requiring eye drops or ointment, temporarily or permanently,” warned the people at smartplasticsurgery.com.

Take the case of John McGill, 52, from Cambridgeshire, England, who was assured that eyelid surgery was simple and wouldn’t take long. True enough, he left the surgeon’s office after 25 minutes and that’s when his troubles began.

"There was a lot of swelling and my eyes were sore, itchy and very red. With just the slightest breeze, they would start watering. I went back to the clinic and the surgeon just said to give it time but matters didn't improve," he told the BBC News.

Eighteen months after the operation, McGill consulted an eye specialist at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital who told him what was wrong: too much skin had been removed from his lower eyelids. It took two more operations to correct this defect after which McGill sued the erring surgeon. He eventually got a six-figure settlement but only after his case dragged on for years.

“It is just unbelievable that surgeons are able to operate like this. The clinic I went to was a well respected high street outlet, not a back street job,” he told the BBC.

Luckily, you don’t always have to rely on surgery to get rid of eye bags. Other less invasive options are available that won’t drain your wallet and jeopardize your health. One of them is Eyevive, a safe and natural eye cream that can eliminate eye bags, dark circles, puffiness, and other eye imperfections that comes with aging. Check out http://tinyurl.com/8jkw6ma today for details.