Posted on October 11, 2011 in Blepharoplasty, Eyelid Lift
Droopy eyes? Looking tired? Perhaps you would benefit from an upper eyelid lift. Learn more about functional and cosmetic enhancement of the eyelid using blepharoplasty technique. As a board certified facial plastic surgeon, Dr. John Hilinski performs eyelid lift surgery on a very regular basis. This latest addition to our comprehensive San Diego plastic surgery website focuses on eyelid lift surgery to correct droopy, tired looking eyes. To learn more about this most recent update on blepharoplasty surgery in San Diego, go to http://www.drhilinski.com/procedures/eye-lid-lift-san-diego-ca/ptosis-eyelid-lift-blepharoplasty-repair/ for additional information and photos.
Posted on May 20, 2011 in Blepharoplasty, Eyelid Lift
Ever consider having an upper eyelid lift to help improve your impaired vision? Learn more about this particular type of blepharoplasty procedure to help reshape the eyelid. In many cases patients don’t even realize how much the upper eyelid can obscure their peripheral vision and what impact this has on their daily routine. In many of these patients, an upper eyelid lift can be performed by a qualified board certified eyelid lift specialist to help alleviate these problems. And often times your health insurance company will cover the cost to have the procedure done. A common byproduct of this type of blepharoplasty surgery is that the eyelid also looks much more rejuvenated following the eyelid lift. To see our updated San Diego eyelid lift discussion on blepharoplasty to improve your vision, please use this link here.
Posted on April 26, 2011 in Blepharoplasty, Eyelid Lift
I happen to see quite a few facial plastic surgery patients in San Diego who are looking to have more of a ‘finesse’ type of lower eyelid lift. These are patients that are relatively younger compared with most lower eyelid lift patients. They usually present with some degree of excess lower eyelid skin and bunching under the eyes, but typically don’t have significant ‘pseudohernation’ of the fat (often referred to as eyelid ‘bags’ by many patients).
Typical Lower Eyelid Lift Skin Pinch Surgery Candidate
The typical lower eyelid lift skin pinch patient demonstrates unwanted ridges of skin just underneath the eyelash region. As you can see in the patient example below, there does not appear to be an excessive amount of fat protruding from under the eye. For the most part the lower eyelid – cheek junction is fairly youthful still. What bothers most of these patients is the redundancy of lower eyelid skin – eyelid wrinkles that detract from an, otherwise, smooth lower eyelid contour. For instance, the white arrows and red curved line point to the area of concern in this particular blepharoplasty patient example. As you can see, she is quite youthful and takes great care of her face and skin. But she has unwanted skin folds along the lower eyelid that distract from her eyes.
Skin Pinch Surgery Eyelid Rejuvenation
A skin pinch lower eyelid lift surgery is intended to provide a more rejuvenated and rested look for the facial plastic surgery patient. As mentioned above, these patients do not have a significant amount of fat protruding out from under the eyes. Therefore, the eyelid lift surgery in this patient population can be more targeted to just the excess skin folds. Consequently, my skin pinch lower eyelid lift patients in San Diego can have their procedure under basically local anesthesia (like going to the dentist). After numbing up the lower eyelid with a novacaine-like injection, the eyelid lift is performed by making an incision under the eyelashes. As the incision extends out to the side of the eye, it is hidden in one of the normal crow’s feet lines that nearly everyone has in this area. I elevate, or lift up, the eyelid skin and remove the redundant or excess eyelid wrinkles. I then very carefully suture (stitch) the eyelid incision closed. Within 5 days, the sutures are removed in the office. Usually by 7-10 days after surgery, most skin pinch eyelid lift patients feel comfortable enough to be in the public eye with a little concealer on. As you can see in the following before and after photos, patients can have a very nice improvement in their lower eyelid appearance following a skin pinch lower blepharoplasty. In this case, you can barely even see the incision that was made. And this patient has more of an ethnic skin type, which is usually more challenging when it comes to hiding scars. So if you are bothered by unwanted lower eyelid skin folds, you might be a good candidate to undergo a skin pinch lower eyelid blepharoplasty procedure. Done under local anesthesia in the office with little downtime, this type of minimally invasive lower eyelid lift can potentially give you fantastic, natural looking eyelids.
Posted on February 11, 2011 in Asian Rhinoplasty, Blepharoplasty, Ethnic Rhinoplasty, Facial Plastic Surgery, Nose Reshaping, Revision Rhinoplasty, Rhinoplasty
San Diego rhinoplasty specialist, Dr. John Hilinski, has just completed another chapter for his online rhinoplasty tutorial that helps current and prospective nasal reshaping patients better understand the entire process of nose surgery. This latest rhinoplasty chapter focuses on the use of nasal steroid injections in management of the nose surgery patient. To learn more about this rhinoplasty topic, click here to learn about our nasal reshaping tutorial on steroid injections for rhinoplasty patients.
Posted on February 2, 2011 in Blepharoplasty
I wanted to post a quick blog entry regarding the potentially dramatic impact of having an upper eyelid blepharoplasty procedure, or upper eyelid lift. This female patient from San Diego presented to our clinic requesting evaluation for her upper eyelids. She actually noted that she was having difficulty with her peripheral vision. In addition, she noted that her upper eyelids were becoming increasingly heavy. On examination she was found to have evidence of moderately severe upper eyelid dermatochalasia. This is a term that implies there is excess skin that is contributing to an unwanted draping effect. If you look closely at this particular blepharoplasty patient, you can appreciate how her upper eyelid skin hangs over so much that it is nearly on her lash line. In fact, you can no longer see her upper eyelid crease due to the eyelid dermatochalasia. In her case, we sent her off for additional diagnostic testing to objectively measure her visual field acuity. The testing revealed an actual blockage in her vision as a result of the excess upper eyelid skin. Fortunately for her, health insurance provided coverage for an upper eyelid lift (blepharoplasty).
Preop Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Lift) Photos
Blepharoplasty (Upper Eyelid Lift)
I ended up taking her to surgery and performed an upper eyelid lift or blepharoplasty procedure. We made our standard incision starting in the crows foot area just to the side of the eye. This was then extended across the upper eyelid in her hidden natural skin crease. The excess skin was then removed with preservation of her underlying eyelid muscle and fat. In cases like this, it is my personal opinion that you should preserve the upper eyelid natural fat and muscle to maintain sufficient volume. In doing so, I also avoid creating an eye that looks sunken or hollowed out. We closed her upper eyelid incision with meticulously placed sutures that were removed in 5 days. She had approximately one week of surgical downtime following the blepharoplasty. She went on to heal quite well from her eyelid tuck.
Before and After Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Lift) Photos
Her before and after blepharoplasty (eyelid tuck) photos are provided herein. As you can see, she has a fairly dramatic improvement in terms of her upper eyelid shape. In fact, she looks like she could be a model with her new eyes! She now has a much more rested look after the eyelid lift. Her eyes clearly look more open. As you can imagine, she subjectively feels like her eyelids are no longer heavy and she has a marked improvement in terms of her peripheral vision. Most importantly, she looks very natural following her blepharoplasty – almost as if she never had any plastic surgery at all.
Posted on January 12, 2011 in Blepharoplasty, Eyelid Lift
One of the most common concerns among potential eyelid lift, or blepharoplasty, patients is having a hollow or sunken look to their eyes following surgery. The hollow or sunken look can be seen in some patients who had an eyelid lift by a plastic surgeon who removed not only skin but also underlying muscle and fat. When too much soft tissue is removed from the upper eyelid, for instance, the eye begins to look sunken. Although the eye now looks different (and has less skin redundancy), it is far from looking youthful and more rejuvenated, which is the goal of an eyelid lift. I think that many plastic surgeons forget to realize that the esthetically ideal eye does indeed have some volume between the eyelid and the eyebrow. If you look at any famous model out there, you will appreciate there is a nice convex shape (not flat or hollow) going from the upper eyelid crease toward the eyebrow. What most blepharoplasty patients are after is removal of just the excess skin that drapes over their natural eyelid crease that detracts from a more pleasing appearance. In order to avoid this type of look following blepharoplasty, I try and preserve much of the underlying eyelid muscle and even fat. If there is some excess fat that warrants removal, I do this in a conservative fashion during the eyelid surgery. I will also even contour the eyelid muscle a bit but fall short of actually resection (or removal) of the muscle in a majority of cases. For the most part, though, I try and preserve much of the normal, native underlying anatomy. The adjacent photos of one of my San Diego eyelid lift patients highlights much of what I am trying to explain above. This particular female blepharoplasty patient was most concerned about the excess skin along her upper eyelids. As you can see from the photos, she has upper eyelid skin that is draping down almost over her actual eyelashes. Although she was fairly young in age, her upper eyelids were giving her the appearance that she looked much older and tired. I performed an upper eyelid (and lower eyelid) lift to remove essentially just skin from both sides. I did minimal contouring of her upper eyelid muscle and even less work on the fat. The red shaded area in the photo shows essentially what was removed from the upper eyelid. As you can see in her postoperative photo, there is a marked improvement in the shape of her eye now. We fully preserved her natural, almond shape of the eye and provided her with a much more youthful, rested look. All this was able to be accomplished without risking a hollow or sunken look. Hope this helps any of you San Diego blepharoplasty, eyelid lift candidates considering surgery.
Posted on in Blepharoplasty, Eyelid Lift
Of lately we have had a series of younger patients coming into our San Diego office for consultation regarding an eyelid lift, also known as blepharoplasty. Many of them inquire whether or not they are seeking treatment too early given the fact they are in their early 30s-40s. The reality is there are many patients who have eyelid lift surgery at this age! You don’t have to wait until you are in your 50s-60s before considering a blepharoplasty procedure. There are a number of patients out there who congenitally have excess upper and lower eyelid skin that creates a prematurely aged or tired look. Their eyelid skin tends to be more crepe than the average person. Many female patients begin to notice difficulty applying make-up to the upper eyelid because there is so much skin redundancy. These type of unwanted changes can certainly be seen as early as 30-40 years of age. So don’t feel like you are alone out there when considering an upper eyelid lift at this age. The good news is that a blepharoplasty procedure can be one of the most satisfying procedures to have done with some of the biggest bang for your buck.
Posted on December 31, 2010 in Blepharoplasty, Eyelid Lift
I just saw one of my blepharoplasty or eyelid lift patients back in the office. She is doing quite well and gave me a quick suggestion that I thought would be helpful to pass on to my other patients. For years now we have recommended our eyelid lift patients use Karo syrup, or corn syrup, as a cold compress to reduce swelling and bruising after surgery. It can be placed in sandwich bags and put in the freezer to create a very cold yet pliable compress that molds around the eye. She suggested that adding in some frozen peas helps even further in terms of efficiency. So for all you eyelid lift patients out there, give this a try.
Posted on March 5, 2010 in Blepharoplasty, Facial Plastic Surgery
One of the more frequently asked questions is what will my eyes look like after an upper blepharoplasty, or eyelid lift, procedure? Or what can I expect at one week out from my eyelid lift? Within the first 72-96 hours your eyes will swell and might even bruise. We always recommend ice compresses (or Karo syrup bags) to the eyes during this period to minimize swelling and discoloration. Within 5-6 days, I will see you in our office to remove the sutures. The sutures are fine threads placed along the upper eyelid crease to bring the skin edges together very carefully. There are some additional sutures along the outside of the eyelid in some cases where the patient has ‘hooding’ of the skin to the side. You may still look puffy that day when the sutures come out but within a few days to weeks will begin to look more and more presentable in the public. One of our San Diego rhinoplasty patients who had an upper eyelid blepharoplasty is shown in the attached photo 5 days out from surgery on the left showing what the average patient looks like at this point. Notice the fine blue sutures along the upper eyelid. On the right is the same patient within a few weeks. Happy healing. Dr. Hilinski
