Women warn about complications from cheap blepharoplasty eyelid surgery

Oculoplastic surgeons are warning of a rise in complications from cheap blepharoplasty (eyelid) surgeries performed abroad, driven by viral TikTok trends. Many patients travel to budget clinics like Faceland, which has performed over 2,950 procedures on UK patients since October 2024 using a high-volume model. Patients report severe pain, infections, and being unable to close their eyes, leaving the NHS to handle costly corrective treatments due to a lack of local aftercare.

Influence of social media promotion

• ▪Nikita Morgan decided to undergo a blepharoplasty after viewing promotional videos about the cosmetic procedure on the social media platform TikTok.
• ▪Videos about blepharoplasty posted by United Kingdom social media accounts on four leading platforms were viewed nearly 150 million times over a three-year period prior to September 2026.

Faceland's low-cost business model

• ▪Faceland lowers its operational costs by allowing practitioners to perform a higher volume of treatments, resulting in patients spending less than an hour at its clinics.
• ▪Faceland charges €750 for a blepharoplasty, whereas the same upper eyelid surgery typically costs more than €4,000 in Ireland and thousands of pounds in the United Kingdom.
• ▪Faceland has performed more than 2,950 blepharoplasty procedures on United Kingdom patients at its clinics in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland since October 2024.

Complications experienced by Faceland patients

• ▪Nikita Morgan experienced extreme pain and bleeding stitches during and after her €750 blepharoplasty procedure at a Faceland clinic in Düsseldorf in November 2025.
• ▪A patient named Laura experienced her eyelid wounds reopening and becoming infected eight days after undergoing a blepharoplasty at Faceland's Amsterdam clinic in June 2026.
• ▪Caryn Harte experienced a swollen, bleeding left eye and reopening wounds on December 25, 2024, days after her blepharoplasty at Faceland's Amsterdam clinic.

Inadequate aftercare and NHS burden

• ▪Consultant oculoplastic surgeon Colin Vize warned that patients removing their own stitches increases infection risks and the likelihood of surgical wounds splitting open.
• ▪A patient named Laura made four visits to National Health Service Accident and Emergency departments after her Faceland surgical wounds reopened.
• ▪United Kingdom oculoplastic surgeons stated that a lack of post-operative aftercare for patients undergoing cheap blepharoplasty surgery abroad puts a burden on the National Health Service.
• ▪Patients who underwent cheap eyelid surgery abroad reported that limited aftercare was their primary complaint, with some resorting to removing their own stitches.

Surgeons report complications

• ▪A survey of 63 British Oculoplastic Surgery Society members found that complications from overseas blepharoplasty include scarring, uneven eyes, wounds opening up, and, most commonly, patients being unable to close their eyes properly.
• ▪British Oculoplastic Surgery Society members reported seeing patients with complications after undergoing blepharoplasty procedures performed by unregistered United Kingdom practitioners, including in living rooms.

Debatable claims

• ▪TikTok should ban promotional content for invasive cosmetic surgeries
• ▪The NHS should charge patients for treating complications from cosmetic surgeries undergone abroad