It does not happen often, but it happens.
Patients with hearing loss occasionally come in for double eyelid surgery.
Some have ptosis correction at the same time.
I have had stretches where several patients in the deaf community came through the clinic in succession.
We did the surgeries with simple sign language at the time.
The challenge, as you would expect, is communicating during the parts of the operation where I need the patient to open or close her eyes on cue.
Here is how the surgery actually goes.
1. The first consultation has to include someone who can sign fluently and also speak. (Just so it is clear: a patient with hearing loss often does not speak.)
That way we can have a real conversation about the eye shape she wants.
2. Before surgery, we work out exactly how I will signal her — when to open the eyes, and any other intra-operative requests — so we are aligned in advance.
3. We also agree on how she will signal me if she is uncomfortable.
Mid-surgery, she cannot just bring an unsterile hand up to her face, so we set this up beforehand.
Depending on what the patient wants, we do an out-fold (as above) or an in-out fold (below).