Oculoplastic surgeons have raised concerns about a growing number of complications stemming from lower-cost eyelid surgery procedures performed at international clinics, according to reports to the BBC. The procedures, known as blepharoplasties or “blephs,” involve removing skin above the eyes and have become increasingly popular partly due to social media promotion. In the past three years, videos about the procedure posted by UK social media accounts on four leading platforms garnered nearly 150 million views, representing a five-fold increase compared to the previous three-year period.
Dutch company Faceland, which operates clinics in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, has performed more than 2,950 bleph procedures on UK patients since October 2024, charging significantly less than private UK providers. While the company states that less than 1% of procedures have resulted in complaints and describes its treatments as “safe and quality,” several patients have reported serious complications. These include difficulties closing eyes after surgery, reopened surgical wounds, and concerns about vision loss. Surgeons indicate that upper eyelid surgery typically requires about three hours including preparation and aftercare, though patients at Faceland clinics reported spending less than an hour at facilities.
Several individuals who underwent the procedure have documented problems requiring NHS follow-up care. One patient experienced reopened eyelid wounds eight days after surgery that became infected, leading to multiple emergency room visits. Another individual reported having to tape her eyes shut due to excessive skin removal. Faceland attributes complications partly to patients flying immediately after surgery against medical advice and removing stitches at home rather than with medical supervision. The company states that surgeons receive internal training in the procedures. However, surgeons have noted that wound reopening should rarely occur with proper training, and they emphasize that inadequate aftercare places additional burden on the NHS system.
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