Frequently Asked Questions

For many people, a big fear of surgery is going under anesthesia.

Dr Erb does most of her procedures in her office procedure room. We do procedures in our office procedure room almost every day so we are really good at making people feel comfortable and having minimal pain. We give you relaxing pills like Xanax or Ativan and Tylenol pain pills. We monitor you to make sure that you are getting sleepy and we give you more Xanax or Ativan until you are very sleepy. Only after you are very sleepy do we proceed. We put numbing drops on your eyes, protectors on your eyes, numbing cream on your eyelids, and numbing injections in your eyelids. Once you are good and numb, we get started with the procedure. Everyone falls asleep. It ends up being quite comfortable.

Love Anesthesia?

Dr Erb also does procedures at an Ambulatory Surgery Center where an Anesthesiologist doctor can administer twilight or general anesthesia.

Upper and/or lower blepharoplasty, ptosis repair, and brow lifts will generally last for 10 to 30 years. After 10 to 30 years, there is usually no problem in doing another procedure again.

We do lots of procedures in our office procedure room so we are very good at making patients feel comfortable and have minimal pain. We give you relaxing pills like Xanax or Ativan. We give you pain pills called Tylenol. We monitor you to make sure that you are getting very sleepy. If you are not very sleepy, we will give you more Xanax or Ativan. Once you are very sleep, we get started. We use numbing eye drops and lenses on the eyes so you don’t have to see anything that is going on. We use numbing cream and then place numbing injections. Once you are good and numb, then we get started. Everyone usually just falls asleep.

After your procedure, most people do not have any pain and need no pain medications. Occasionally, someone might need Tylenol for pain. Rarely, someone might need Norco or Vicodin for pain.

The time for you to consider eyelid surgery is when you look in the mirror and you don’t like what you see. You do not have to wait until your eye bags are really large. Also, losing weight will not make the bags smaller. It is important for you to have a consultation with Dr. Erb and let her discuss the options with you.

Dr. Erb does the surgery. She operates five days a week; you will be entirely in her hands from start to finish. She will call you after your surgery to check in with you. We are here to serve you.

Bruising is quite variable from patient to patient. On average, bruising will last for 2 weeks. However, depending on the patient, bruising can last from 1 day to 4 weeks. Factors such as the use of blood thinners can prolong bruising.

The frequent use of ice packs will help reduce bruising and swelling. We will give you 2 gel ice packs after surgery. You put one on your eyelids and one in the freezer and you rotate them so that you always have a gel icepack on the surgical area. Use the ice gel packs as much as possible for 8 days. It is important to know that the more often that you use the cold pack, the less bruising and swelling there will be. Bruising and swelling gets worse on days 1 through 3 and then starts to improve.

Here is a partial list:

1. Rest for 3 days after surgery so that you can use cold packs as much as possible.
2. You may watch TV or work on the computer after surgery. There are no restrictions.
3. You may drive when you feel that you are safe to drive based on the blurriness of your vision.
4. No eye makeup for 2 weeks after surgery.
5. No contact lenses for 2 weeks after surgery. Wear glasses.
6. No strenuous exercise (running) for 2 weeks after surgery. Walking is fine.
7. No heavy lifting, over 10 pounds, for 2 weeks after surgery
8. No bending over or head down positions for 2 weeks after surgery
9. No swimming in pools or ocean or getting swimming pool water on stitches for 2 weeks after surgery

It depends on what kind of work you do and how comfortable you are with people seeing you bruised and/or swollen. If your job does not require bending, heavy lifting, driving, or being in the “public eye,” then you may return as soon as you feel comfortable. Normally most patients feel comfortable returning to work in anywhere from 3 to 14 days, although occasionally a patient will return to work the day after surgery. This may vary depending on your type of procedure and how quickly you heal.

Wash your stitches gently with water every day. You may carefully use a Q-Tip with a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to remove crusting on the stitches while being careful not to get any hydrogen peroxide into the eyes. Apply the prescribed ointment to the stitches at night only. Do not use any other ointments or creams on your stitches. We actually want the stitches to dry out.

You may wash your hair the day after surgery.

You may use artificial tears as needed after surgery. The length of time for blurred vision and the amount of blurriness is variable from patient to patient.

Dr Erb will continue to follow you with in-real-life or telehealth appointments until you are satisfied.