Having eyelid surgery abroad and my flight home is booked for day five. Is that too soon to fly?

I am having upper and lower lids done abroad next month, combined with a visit to family. The clinic said "you can fly after a few days" and I booked a flight home for day five because I have to be back at work. Now I am reading here about stitches at 5 to 7 days and bleeding behind the eye and I am wondering whether I have been very stupid.

Specific questions. Is cabin pressure a problem for fresh eyelids? Who takes the stitches out if I have flown? And what do I do about dry eyes on a long flight, because I know aircraft air is dry. Should I just move the flight?

I would move it, honestly. Not because I know anything about cabin pressure, but because on day five my eyes were still streaming, gritty and half closed with ointment, and the idea of an airport, a queue and a long flight like that makes me shudder. Day five was my worst looking day.

Ask the clinic who removes the stitches. Mine were out on day six and it took a nurse two minutes with good light and a steady hand. If you have flown home, you need someone at home who will do it, and plenty of GPs will not touch another clinic's cosmetic surgery stitches. Sort that before you go.

Dry eyes on a plane: ointment, drops in your hand luggage, and a wrap around pair of sunglasses for the airport. But I would still rather you were not on that plane at day five.

The thing I would want nailed down is the first couple of days, not the flight itself. The bleed behind the eye that everyone mentions is rare but it is an early problem, and it needs treating fast. You want to be near the surgeon who operated for that stretch, with their number, and you want them to see you before you leave. The site's guide to eyelid surgery abroad has the questions to ask about cover and follow up, and I would ask the clinic to put their flying advice in writing rather than "a few days".

Thank you, this changed my plans. Rang the clinic and asked them to put it in writing, and the surgeon's actual advice was to stay until the stitches are out and he has checked the lower lids, which is day eight or nine for him. Moved the flight to day ten, taken the extra days as holiday, and found a nurse at home who will see me at two weeks just in case. Much calmer now. I will report how the flight goes.