FAQEyes
Can sausage eyes after double eyelid surgery be corrected?
Often, yes. Sausage eyes is a patient term for a double eyelid crease that sits high and looks thick and puffy. Early swelling alone can cause this look, so the crease is usually judged at about 3 months. If it stays high, a revision can often lower it, though how far depends on your skin and scar.
Why does a crease end up looking like a sausage?
It is a forum term, not a medical one. Clinically it is usually a crease too high, often with a puffy strip of lid between the lashes and the line, called pretarsal fullness. A published review of revision eyelid surgery counts fold height and pretarsal fullness among the most common reasons people are unhappy after double eyelid surgery.
A high line exposes a wide band of lid below it and leaves extra skin folded above it. When that skin and the tissue under it are full, the fold bulges and reads as a thick crease. The double eyelid shapes guide covers which heights suit which lids.
How long should you wait before judging it?
Swelling makes nearly every new crease look taller and heavier at first. A long-term study of Asian eyelid surgery notes that after a long incision the lid can stay swollen for months, so the fold looks too high for a while. Expect the line to soften over 1 to 3 months; surgeons usually assess it at around 3 months.
If it still sits high after that, a second operation is normally delayed by several months, giving the scar time to soften. A stitch rubbing the eye is treated earlier.
How does a revision lower a high crease, and what are the limits?
In revision double eyelid surgery the old line is reopened, the scar anchoring it is released and a new fold is fixed lower on the lid. Fat or soft tissue may be placed between the layers so the old line is less likely to come back. A weak lid opening can be treated with ptosis correction at the same time.
A double eyelid revision is less predictable than a first surgery. The amount of skin left and the scar decide how much lower the line can go, scar can re-form and drag it back up, and more than one operation is sometimes needed.
At Urban Plastic Surgery, our partner clinic, a crease revision takes about 1 hour under sedation or local anesthesia, with stitches out on day 7 and most people back to daily life within 7 to 14 days. Allow 7 to 10 days in Seoul. Start with photos through our consultation page. A patient coordinator answers first, then the surgeon at the partner clinic that fits your case reviews your photos and consults in depth. Lowering a crease is the surgeon’s decision; the coordinator is not a doctor.
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Sources
- Revision Upper Blepharoplasty. PubMed Central, US National Library of Medicine
- Asian Blepharoplasty: An 18-Year Experience in 6215 Patients. Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Oxford Academic