Decompression surgery

[Cooper67]

My eye dr told me about a surgery to help with a bulging left eye. He said basically he would make an incision at the corner of my eye and remove some of the fat behind my eye to allow more space for the eye.  He called this a "light" decompression as it doesn't involve removal of any bone.  Have you heard of this and what is the success rate?  Any other information you would like to share would be much appreciated.

[Doreen Fazio, M.D.]

Orbital decompression is usually done for proptosis (bulging) of the eye, most often resulting from Graves' disease.  Decompression might be needed to decrease pressure on the optic nerve, if the orbital fat and muscle enlargement are compressing the optic nerve and causing visual loss; if there is such severe proptosis that the cornea is being damaged by exposure; for severe disfigurement.  If this is a mild cosmetic problem, then decompression is not usually done.  If you do have a decompression surgery, it should be performed by an oculoplastic specialist, an ophthalmologist who specializes in diseases of the lids and orbits.

[Cooper67]

Thank you, my Dr is an oculoplastic specialist.  He said he has done 100-200 of these types of surgery. Not sure if that is considered a lot or a little. He said he wouldn't do any removal of the bone, just oribtal fat.  I do not have any double vision, or loss of vision.  My eye seems to have started bulging more as I get older, and I guess this  would not be considered severe, however it is bothersome to me due to the fact that I wear contacts and have severe dry eye.  
He also suggested I have eyelid surgery to lower the eyelid a bit so that it covers more of the eye.  
Kind of nervous about all of it, but would like to try it if the risks are not too great.