www.oculoplastic.info 310.777.8880 A typical primary eyelid surgery takes between one to two hours. No patient is ever rushed to achieve the best results. Your health insurance may cover the cost of upper eyelid surgery if it is causing problems with your superior visual field. After your initial consultation with Dr. Kami Parsa he can tell you if you may be eligible and if further tests are necessary to determine eligibility. Most cosmetic eyelid surgery can be performed under local anesthesia. If desired, local anesthesia with sedation can be performed. This type of anesthesia, also known as Monitored Anesthesia Care or MAC, is performed by an anesthesiologist. The main advantages of this anesthesia are (1) it does not require putting a breathing tube in the throat, (2) it does not require a breathing machine, (3) the recovery is much faster, (4) there is less nausea after surgery. All of these elements translate into greater comfort and safety. During MAC anesthesia, an intravenous needle is placed into one of the veins of the arm or hand. Relaxing medication is given to make the patient fall asleep. The amount of medication is adjusted as needed. After the patient is asleep, numbing medicine is placed in the skin of the area that is being operated on. During the procedure the patient is unaware of anything going on and cannot hear anything, yet he or she is breathing normally. Eyelid Surgery Recovery: Depending on the persons previous medical history there will be …