AboutAlan M. Engler, MD, FACS Expertise Dr. Engler has answered over 2700 plastic surgery questions for Allexperts. His expertise is in cosmetic plastic surgery including breast surgery (breast enlargement with implants, breast reduction, breast lifts), liposuction, eyelid surgery, tummy tucks, facelifts etc.
Dr. Engler has been listed as one New York`s Top Doctors, and as "One of the World's Most Famous Aesthetic Surgeons" (Aesthetic Surgery, TASCHEN Books, Angelika Taschen, Editor). He is the author of 4 books, including "BodySculpture" (a best-selling plastic surgery book on breast surgery, liposuction and tummy tucks), "EyeScapes" (Plastic Surgery of the Eyelids), "Restylane," and "The Slim Book of Liposuction."
Dr. Engler has two US Patents for surgical instruments that he's designed, and has appeared on numerous television shows, including The Tyra Banks Show, The Ricki Lake Show (four times), and the Dr. Keith Ablow Show. Videos of his appearances are available on YouTube (SEARCH FOR "DR. ENGLER"). His website is www.bodysculpture.com.
Experience Dr. Alan Engler is a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York and the author of BodySculpture - Plastic Surgery of the Body for Men and Women (ISBN 0966382749) one of the top-selling plastic surgery books on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, etc.
Education/Credentials Dr. Engler graduated from Yale University (undergraduate) and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University (medical school). He did his residency training in General Surgery and, after that, Plastic Surgery, at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York. He is on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Question Dear Dr. Engler,
I had a blepharoplasty of the lower eye lid at the beginning of February. It was the second one, the first one was 7 years back. I had to get it done a second time because of excess skin that had developed again.
My problem is that I still suffer from swollen eye lids (pouches) in the morning. Over the day, the puffiness subsides but not completely. The more the puffiness gets less the more the skin looks wrinkly. The operated area looks like "sickle moon" in the evening, under the right eye more than under the left one. My doctor told me that the lids are still not completely healed and there is a lot of scarred tissue under the skin (because it was done a 2nd time already) and it can take up to year for the lids to heal. Doctor, can you confirm that this is normal and that my eyelids will eventually completely heal and look alright? What can I do to speed up the process? My doctor told me to softly massage and apply warm compresses. Is this o.k. To me it seems that the lymphatic drainage (or however you call this) is not working properly. In general, I do have a very week connecting tissue. Would be very grateful to hear your opinion. Thanks a lot in advance and kind regards,
Elke
Answer Dear Elke,
Thanks for writing to me. There's more info about plastic surgery at my site, www.bodysculpture.com.
It is certainly true that it can take a long time for swelling to resolve after secondary procedures, and that includes a secondary lower lid blepharoplasty. In fact, that procedure - as much or more than most - needs to be done with extreme caution, as over resection of the skin can occur with even apparently small amounts of skin removal. At least it doesn't sound like that's your problem. And the other thing I'd mention is that the indication for your procedure; ie, the reason you had it done, is one that requires extreme caution. In general, lower lid surgery is more successful (in my opinion) for excess fat than for excess wrinkly skin.
So if the main problem is persistent swelling of the tissues at 8 months, then it's not as much of a problem as it could have been (you can get distortion of the eye shape if the skin is pulled too tight or if it heals with too much scar tissue, etc). And I would agree that (a) it can take this long or longer for the swelling to resolve completely and (b) there probably isn't much that you can do to speed up the process. Compresses and massage are both good suggestions.
That being said, it's always a good idea to get another opinion or two if you think you're having a problem, if there is a question as to how something's healing, etc. You may want to see another plastic surgeon and an ophthalmologist, just to cover all the bases. It might not be truly necessary to do all that, but you don't want to miss something.
I wish that I could give you a quick fix but I'm afraid that that's not possible. Nevertheless, I hope that this helps, and good luck,
