Recovery

WARNING
The following photos and descriptions may be graphic for some folks.
Swipe away if stitches make you squeamish!

Immediately post-op

My eyes aren’t notably swollen yet. I suppose this is because my body hasn’t had a chance to ‘react’ and create inflammation and swelling to the incisions yet.

The following photo was taken in the recovery room, immediately after operation. The blue lines on my eyes are just Dr Seo’s pen marks/guidelines, which will be cleaned off over the next few days:

3 pm
(~3 hours post op)

We’re back at our Air Bnb. The procedure was virtually painless but I’m currently in quite a bit of pain. I would probably rate it 5/10 (0 being negligible and 10 being excruciating). My eyelids feel heavy, very sore, and I have a throbbing headache. I did have a slight headache before the operation but it was definitely aggravated by the surgery.

My lids have definitely started to swell:

6:45 PM
(6 hours post-op)

The painkillers provided by the clinic have not been strong enough to alleviate the discomfort I’m experiencing. Thank goodness I brought some Tylenol #1 (Acetaminophen with Codeine) with me from Canada to top up on my pain management. As advised by the clinic, I’ve been icing my eyes for 20 minutes, breaking for 1 hour, then repeating.

My lids are still swollen and sore but I’m feeling slightly less pain than 3 hours post op. I’m unsure if it’s because the Tylenol #1 is kicking in if my body is starting to get accustomed to the pain.

Tonight, I’m not looking forward to sleeping at a 45 degree angle but apparently that is what is recommended for at least 48 hours post op to minimize swelling.

My eyes are similarly swollen compared to yesterday. If anything, they are actually slightly less swollen! I’m surprised because I have read the first days (especially 2-3) following DES tend to the the worst.

Sleeping at a 45 degree angle last night was annoying. I was propped up on 3 pillows but felt like a stiff mannequin trying to maintain an upright position. I suppose it would be easier for someone who normally sleeps on their back. I tend to favour sleeping on my side and found this position irritating. Anyway, it reduces swelling so I’ll tough it out and sleep upright again tonight.

I did spend the majority of the day icing. 20 minutes on, then 1 hour off, as before. I actually have an ice pack secured to my head right now as I type! I guess lessons about keyboard ‘home positions’ from elementary school are finally paying off. That, or I’ll have some serious editing to do after this.
Anyway, I notice swelling of my eyelids reduces immediately after icing. It’s definitely essential that I stay on track and ice as much as possible today and tomorrow.

I am experiencing some pressure behind my left eye. It comes and goes, and perhaps that’s because I’m also continuing my medications (which includes Tylenol). I’ll probably mention this at my follow up appointment tomorrow.

My right eye does have visible bruising above the crease (see photo). I noticed the spot last night and it has darkened today. I’ve been using the Auriderm cream religiously, at least every hour or every half an hour. I wonder if this is helping to reduce bruising but I’m not willing to skip an application to test this out.

This morning, I did wake up with some eye crusts in the corner of my lids. I carefully wiped these away using some Live Clean non-petrolatum jelly and it did a good job wiping off any gunk that had accumulated. I read from several sources that you should not allow your stitches to dry out completely. The incision is basically an open wound and should be treated as such. It should be kept hydrated (using a thin layer of antibiotic ointment) to promote healing. That said, the staff at MVP advised me to keep the stitches not to apply too much antibiotic ointment and I should not keep the sutures too moist. I don’t understand why they said this, but I assume it’s because an excess amount of ointment might promote slippage/loosening of the sutures? I’m not sure.

For swelling, I’ve been eating pumpkin soup, which was provided by the clinic. Before surgery, we stocked up on “Ottogi” brand sweet pumpkin soup but I find it *way* too sweet in comparison to the variety provided by the clinic. I’m going to continue searching for another brand to stock up on.

We did manage to squeeze in a few walks outside today. We are staying close to Hangang park, which is beautiful! It was fun to see all the day tents pitched up, people flying kites and riding their bicycles. When we returned home, I noticed my eyes were minimally swollen, which surprised me since I had skipped icing by an hour by the time we returned home.

I read that walking around can reduce swelling and it seems to be true in my case. I’ll avoid any strenuous exercise for the next few weeks but I think it’s very important that I continue to keep my circulation flowing by walking between icings.

Anyway, I’m really happy with my healing progress. Thus far, I think Dr Seo did a wonderful job creating even incisions, and his stitching is very tidy.

Tomorrow I will visit the clinic for a check up and to get my stitches cleaned. As my sutures seem to be in great condition tonight, I’ll be curious to see what they suggest tomorrow.

Today, I returned to MVP to get my stitches cleaned, get some antibiotic ointment applied, and they also hooked me up an IV full of electrolytes + vitamins. The clinic staff said they were amazed by how fast I’m healing and they haven’t seen anyone with such minimal swelling after 2 days! Woo hoo!

The bruising is still very visible above my right crease, however it is not worse than yesterday. I notice my left eyelid is slightly more swollen than my right eyelid.

I only iced a few times today, walked around a lot, and tonight, I’ll be alternating my ice packs with warm compresses to promote circulation.

Despite all this progress, my sutures really sting today. The swelling and redness seems minimal and I’ve been diligent about applying my antibiotic ointment and eye drops so I doubt they are infected. However, they stingggg.

Hoping for continued progress tomorrow! Trying my best to stay away from salty food in the meantime but it’s so difficult with all these delicious food options on every corner (haha!). Seoul is really a cool city.

My right eye is definitely more swollen than my left eye today. The bruising on my right eyelid looks a little ‘angrier’ today as well. Despite this, pain has generally reduced compared to yesterday. Tomorrow I return to MVP for de-swelling treatment, and apparently they may remove my sutures then too! I always thought sutures were removed 7 days post DES but I suppose every clinic is different.

I notice my left eye is a little bloodshot. My vision has also been blurry and that’s something I’ll ask Dr Seo about tomorrow.

Today I visited MVP for some more de-swelling lasers, suture cleaning, and I got my sutures removed! It felt like sleepers were dried onto my lids and someone was tugging at them hard enough to pluck out hair. I strated crying by the end of it because it stung so badly 😢.

I saw Dr Seo who says I’m healing very well. One concern I had was about the crease height. The current (swollen) height is similar to what we had discussed the final, desired crease height should be. He said that once swelling subsides, I should expect my lids to drop by about half. I’m not thrilled about this but what can be done about it now? I’ll just focus on healing and see what happens.

Basically no pain today. I do feel an occasional ‘tug’ or throbbing in one of my lids but they seem to be doing well.

My lids are now flaking a bit so I’m trying to keep them hydrated. Apparently I’m okay to start applying SPF into the sutures so I’m trying to be diligent with that.

My right lid is still more swollen than my left. I’m hiding the bruising with cover up now but it’s slowly fading.

Will be posting weekly from hereon!

My crease has definitely dropped since week 1. It already looks quite natural in person but I hope it doesn’t continue to drop much more than it has already!

I’m feeling virtually no pain now. However, my lids are still sensitive and I’m continuing to be very gentle when washing or cleaning the incision line.

I’m only wearing eyeliner on the corners of my eyes and I like how my lash line makes it appear as I’m wearing liner all across my lid.

Excuse the stray hairs stuck to my face above :p.

I’m not wearing makeup in week 4’s photo. To be honest, I’m not thrilled that my crease height continues to drop with the de-swelling, as it has already dropped lower than what Dr Seo and I had discussed.

I have been quite open with my friends and family about my eyelids and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive so far. Most people comment on how natural the results are, and that my eyes look brighter, and more youthful. Everyone seems amazed at how quickly I am healing.

I’ve been experimenting with eye makeup and am having the most trouble applying eyeliner. Even the thinnest line overtakes my entire crease due to my low crease height. I will probably need to trial tight-lining my eyes. I feel like a teenager again, who has no idea what the best application techniques are, or what eye makeup will suit me best.

It’s difficult to tell from the above photo, but my left eyelid is slightly more swollen than my right lid. Most people can’t notice until I point it out and they observe closely. I’m hopeful that they will eventually even out as the months wear on.

I’m not wearing any makeup above (obviously). My crease height seems to have stabilized since last week and I don’t notice any difference in height. My left crease is still slightly more swollen than my right crease, but it’s difficult to see in photos.

I still have Auriderm cream, which I’ve been applying morning and evening above the incision line. I’ve also been applying scar gel at bedtime, toggling between Mederma Gel and the Contractubex, which was sold to me by the clinic.
In hindsight, I regret purchasing the Contractubex from the clinic. Mederma and Contractubex use the same active ingredient (Allantoin), and they have very similar gel consistency and application. I find the Mederma to have a milder scent as well. Contratubex is heavily perfumed and while it’s not unpleasant, it’s unnecessary and I prefer to avoid scented products. The Mederma is significantly cheaper than the Contractubex as well. Ah well, hindsight is 20/20, right?

My current concern are the incision lines. I understand that scarring can take several months to a year to fully heal, but there are a few pimply bumps (apparently called “milia”) spanning the crease. My left eyelid has about 5-6 tiny milia, whereas my right lid has 2. My biggest concern are the dark pinpoint “heads” at the centre of these bumps. You can’t see them in the above photo but they’re visible in person. I’m worried that my mascara/eyeliner has stained the milia and they haven’t been wiping away with normal cleansing and cotton swabbing. They’re puny and it’s difficult to tell if they’re tiny scabs or makeup stains. I am seriously hoping they are simply scabs that will heal as the skin cells turnover. I’ve read that a complication of applying makeup too early after DES can cause unwanted ‘tattooing’ of the incision line. I hope and pray that hasn’t happened here! Only time will tell.

In other news, I’m attending a wedding tonight, which marks my first special occasion since DES! I’ve settled into a satisfactory daily eye makeup routine but have been wanting to test a more dramatic look for photos.

Wearing very thin eyeliner and half a band of lashes today! Even the thinnest liner overpowers my lid space.

The milia have all diminished except for one on my left eye. I also notice my left eyelid is not as tender to the touch and has de swelled to be more symmetrical with my right eye.

Honestly, there hasn’t been noticeable change in my crease height for a few weeks now. Starting from week 12, I’ll be posting photos monthly instead of weekly!

Monthly Updates