This 62 year-old woman underwent lower eyelid
blepharoplasty to remove her eye bags. Pre-operatively, she was noted to
have lateral canthal laxity. During the operation via a subciliary incision,
only a limited amount of loose skin was removed from the lower eyelid.
Nonetheless, the patient complained of recurrent epiphora as a result of
lower eyelid retraction especially in the left lower eyelid. She was advised
to massage the lower eyelid in an upward direction using facial cream to
reduce the retraction. Fortunately, the lower eyelid returned to its normal
position after 6 weeks otherwise lateral tarsal strips would have been
performed to restore the lower eyelid position.
Bilateral eye bags with loose skin.
2 weeks post-operative. Bilateral
lower eyelid retraction worse in the left eye with lower puntum
eversion. The patient also had a
spontaneous left subconjunctival haemorrhage.
The edge of the left lower eyelid
reapposed the globe at 8-week post-operative. It is wise to wait
a period of time for the retracted
eyelid to return to its normal position rather than carrying
