What is recovery like after Ptosis Surgery?
At one level, the recovery after ptosis surgery is related to the type of ptosis surgery as
well as the medical status of the person who’s recovering from the surgery. At another level,
a person’s recovery can be affected by their experience in the operating room as well as
the recovery area. It has been my assertion that the person’s experience during and
immediately after surgery has an impact on the short term recovery as well as the long
term recovery period. The factors which I have been successful in helping my patients
recovery after surgery include: the anesthesia method, the surgical team, the surgical technique
and the post operative recovery process.
In our practice, we help our patients recover faster by performing the surgery under local
anesthesia with LITE™ IV sedation. We rarely use general anesthesia which is usually associated
with longer recovery and in my experience, is also associated with more bruising and
swelling. In addition, we avoid any sedation which can cause nausea and grogginess afterwards.
In fact, we have developed our own customized approach to sedation which can consistently
results in our patients waking up fresh and comfortable allowing them to go home soon
after surgery.
I’ve performed surgery at numerous hospitals and surgery centers and had variable levels
of assistance in those institutions. When assistants and other medical personnel work
with many different surgeons, it’s difficult to perform any procedure smoothly and efficiently.
Longer surgery times can have an impact on recovery. Recognizing this as a challenge
for my patients, I perform my procedures in my own operating facilities which are accredited
by The Joint Commission. The Joint Commission is the same organization that oversees hospitals
and ambulatory surgery centers. I can state without any reservation that working with
my own team in my own facilities has resulted in our patients having a much better recovery
experience.
In my opinion, for optimal cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, the surgeon should have: an intrinsically
artistic eye, technical proficiency and a lot of experience. During my consultations,
I discuss that how I feel as a surgeon over 20 years of experience, I am able to handle
many different situations in a way an experienced pilot can handle different situations when
flying a plane. Generally, a well executed surgical procedure will typically result in
a better recovery experience.
Before I designed my own surgical facility, I performed surgeries in hospitals and surgery
centers where I was frustrated by my patient’s experience in the recovery area. Unfortunately,
I found that there was always a mismatch between the number of patients in the recovery room
and the number of people available to take care of them. This resulted in delay in proper
care for procedures such as eyelid surgery where ice and cold compresses need to be applied
as soon as possible. In addition, the patients did not receive the one to one attentive care
that I feel is appropriate for optimal recovery. In my facilities, we have systems and people
to attend to our patients immediately upon the completion of surgery which has helped
my patients recover faster.
As far as the home recovery processes are concerned, it is typical to have some swelling
and some bruising particularly in the first 24-48 hours. We see this improve daily such
that our patients are able to return to work in 5 to 7 days after surgery. Some application
of cover-up make-up and wearing tinted eyewear can be helpful at that time. A significant
part of the healing process occurs during the first few months. Healing can go on for
approximately one year after any type of surgery.