Eyelid Surgery in Turkey

Upper blepharoplasty removes the fold of skin that hangs over the lash line, which makes eyes look smaller and tired and in advanced cases blocks the outer field of vision. It is a relatively straightforward operation with a reliable result and a scar hidden in the natural crease.

Lower blepharoplasty is a harder operation. It addresses under-eye bags, which are usually not excess skin at all but fat that has pushed forward as the ligament holding it back has weakened. Treating that by removing fat and skin — the old approach — frequently produced hollow, sunken eyes that looked older rather than younger. Modern technique repositions the fat into the hollow below it instead.

The distinction that matters most

What the package includes

• Surgeon and anaesthetist fees
• Pre-operative blood tests and an ophthalmic check
• The procedure under local with sedation, or general anaesthetic
• Five nights in a four-star hotel with breakfast
• All airport, hotel and hospital transfers
• A personal English-speaking coordinator
• Lubricating eye drops and ointment
• Suture removal before you fly home
• Scar care products for the first three months
• Twelve months of remote aftercare

An eye check before surgery, not after

Pre-operative assessment includes tear production and a check for dry eye. Blepharoplasty can worsen dry eye significantly, and patients who already have it are at genuine risk of a miserable few months afterwards. Any clinic that does not ask about dry eye before eyelid surgery is skipping the one screening question that matters most.

Eyelid surgery is usually suitable if

• Your upper lids are hooded and the skin rests on or over your lashes.
• You have under-eye bags that persist regardless of sleep or salt.
• You look tired or angry when you are neither.
• Your outer field of vision is affected by overhanging skin.
• Your eyebrow position is normal — or you are willing to address it too.
• You are a non-smoker, or can stop at least four weeks before surgery.

You may need something else first

• Your brow has dropped: a brow lift addresses the cause; removing lid skin makes a low brow worse.
• You have significant dry eye: surgery frequently worsens it, sometimes for months.
• Your main concern is fine crepey skin: laser or a peel treats texture, which surgery does not.
• You have dark circles from pigmentation rather than shadow: surgery will not change colour.
• You have thyroid eye disease, glaucoma or an uncontrolled eye condition.
• You have had previous eyelid surgery: revision is harder, and tissue is finite.

Our self-check below gives you an honest starting answer, and a Valentmedica plastic surgeon reviews your photographs free of charge before you commit to anything.

1. Marking: with you sitting upright and your eyes open, your surgeon marks the skin to be removed. Marking a patient lying down is how too much gets taken, because the brow sits differently.
2. Anaesthetic: local anaesthetic with sedation for most patients, or general anaesthetic if you prefer or if a brow lift is combined.
3. Upper lid — incision: made in the natural crease, so the scar hides when your eye is open.
4. Upper lid — removal: a measured strip of skin is removed, with a conservative amount of muscle. Fat is trimmed only where there is a genuine bulge at the inner corner. Over-removal causes a hollow, surprised look that is very difficult to correct.
5. Lower lid — transconjunctival approach: for fat without excess skin, the incision is made inside the lid. No visible scar at all, and the lid margin is not disturbed.
6. Lower lid — fat repositioning: rather than removing the herniating fat, it is released and redraped into the hollow at the orbital rim below, filling the tear trough with the patient's own tissue.
7. Lower lid — skin tightening: where skin is genuinely excess, a fine incision just below the lashes allows a conservative trim, often with a canthal support stitch to prevent the lid pulling down.
8. Closing: fine sutures, removed at five to seven days. Cold compresses begin immediately.

• Days 1–3: swelling and bruising peak, often spreading down the cheek. Cold compresses, head elevated day and night, lubricating drops hourly.
• Days 4–7: swelling begins to settle. Bruising moves through purple to yellow. Eyes may feel gritty and watery, which is normal.
• Days 5–7: sutures removed. The incision lines are pink and visible.
• Days 10–14: most patients are presentable with makeup and back at a desk job. Residual swelling makes the result look slightly uneven.
• Weeks 3–4: swelling largely resolved. Contact lenses can usually resume.
• Weeks 4–6: light exercise restarts. No heavy lifting or bending, both of which raise pressure around the eye.
• Months 3–6: the final result. Scars fade to fine pale lines in the upper lid crease and beneath the lashes.

Valentmedica works only with JCI-accredited private hospitals in Istanbul and with plastic surgeons registered with the Turkish Ministry of Health who hold Turkish Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons membership. Pre-operative assessment includes tear production testing.

Risks you should know about

• Dry eye: common temporarily, and can be prolonged in those predisposed. The main reason for pre-operative testing.
• Ectropion or scleral show: the lower lid pulled down by over-removal or scar contracture.
• Lagophthalmos: inability to close the eye fully, from excessive upper lid removal.
• Asymmetry: eyes are rarely symmetrical to begin with, and small differences often remain.
• Hollowing: from removing fat that should have been repositioned, giving an aged rather than rested look.
• Visible scarring: usually hidden in the crease or below the lashes, occasionally more apparent.
• Haematoma: bleeding behind the eye is rare but is a surgical emergency, and the reason for a six-night stay.
• Changes in vision: extremely rare, but any sudden pain with visual loss needs immediate attention.

Sudden severe pain with reduced vision after eyelid surgery is an emergency. It is very rare, but it is why Valentmedica keeps you in Istanbul for six nights rather than sending you home after 48 hours.

The eyes do not age in isolation. Brow descent, midface volume loss and lower lid hollowing happen together, and treating one in isolation can emphasise the others.

Commonly combined with

• Brow lift: where the brow has descended. Doing a blepharoplasty alone on a low brow pulls it lower still. See brow lift.
• Fat transfer to the tear trough and temple: restores volume that creates the hollow look. See fat transfer.
• Facelift or mid-face lift: eyes and midface together give a more coherent result than either alone. See endoscopic mid-face lift.
• Laser resurfacing: for fine crepey lower lid skin, which surgery does not improve.
• Botulinum toxin: for crow's feet, usually three to four weeks after surgery rather than at the same time.

If you are considering a facelift, discuss the eyes at the same consultation. Combining them usually means one anaesthetic, one recovery and one set of flights — and a result where no part of the face looks out of step with the rest.

• Dry eye: tell your surgeon if you ever use artificial tears, wear contact lenses for long periods, or have been told you have dry eye. It changes how conservative the surgery should be.
• Eye health: declare glaucoma, thyroid eye disease, previous eye surgery or laser vision correction.
• Medication: tell your surgeon everything you take. Blood thinners, anti-inflammatories, fish oil and vitamin E all increase bruising around the eyes, which is already the most bruise-prone area of the face.
• Smoking: stop at least four weeks before and after.
• Contact lenses: bring glasses. You will not be able to wear lenses for two to three weeks.
• Time off: plan 10–14 days. Bruising around the eyes is highly visible and makeup only helps from about day seven.
• Packing list: dark glasses, a travel pillow to keep your head elevated, and your medication in its original packaging.

The aim is to look rested rather than operated on. A good blepharoplasty is one nobody identifies as surgery — friends comment that you look well, not that you look different. That is achieved by conservative removal, by preserving fat rather than stripping it, and by respecting the natural shape of the eye rather than imposing a different one.

Scars sit in the upper lid crease, where they disappear when the eye is open, and just below the lash line or entirely inside the lid for lower surgery. They are pink for about three months and fade to fine pale lines by a year. Sun protection and scar care from week three help. Ageing continues — the skin will gradually loosen again over a decade or more — but the fat that was repositioned stays where it was put. You can see three and twelve month comparisons in our before and after gallery.