Is a tight feeling when blinking normal after blepharoplasty?

What's normal

Blepharoplasty removes skin, and sometimes muscle or fat, then closes the lid with sutures or adhesive per AAO. Add swelling to a lid that now has slightly less slack and blinking feels tight, stiff, or like something is pulling. StatPearls notes that all patients will have some degree of bruising and swelling, which may last up to 2 weeks, and that is the main driver.

StatPearls also describes early lagophthalmos, meaning the eye not closing all the way, as nearly universal early after upper blepharoplasty and typically resolving within days as swelling decreases. The tight feeling and that incomplete closure are two sides of the same swelling.

Sutures add to it until they come out. AAO states nonabsorbable sutures are removed 7 to 14 days after surgery, and many people notice the tightness drop sharply after that visit.

Strongest in the first week, noticeably better after sutures come out at 7 to 14 days, mostly gone by weeks 3 to 4.

When it stops being normal

Tightness that gets worse instead of better, or that comes with pain, pressure, a bulging eye, or reduced vision, needs immediate attention. AAO states severe pain, decreased vision, and progressive swelling may represent retrobulbar hemorrhage and should be brought to immediate medical attention.

If you still cannot close the eye fully after the swelling has gone down, or the eye is raw and painful overnight, call your surgeon. Persistent inability to close the eye is not something to ride out.