<p>dg 5062: mine was as well.</p>
<p>@conmama,
Make sure that your appointment is with an oculoplastic surgeon and not with a general plastic surgeon.
I PM’d you with the names of oculoplastic surgeons in your area.</p>
<p>@patsmom,
Yep, love the oculoplastic folks at Bascom! Just saw a Bascom buddy last week at a medical conference.</p>
<p>@consolidation,
Thanks for the reference to my previous post.
I’m glad that your surgery went well and that you are happy with the results. (Can’t remember, was it in CT with J.O.?) You deserve it!!</p>
<p>Sorry if this is a bit self-serving, but I have to comment.</p>
<p>Some folks think that a general plastic surgeon does more blepharoplasties in 1 year than any other type of surgeon. Not so! An oculoplastic surgeon will do much more blepharoplasties in 1 year than a general plastic surgeon. A general plastic surgeon fills his/her day with tummy tucks and breast augmentations. An oculoplastic surgeon does eyelids all day, every day. </p>
<p>Had to make sure that this was clear. Carry on!</p>
<p>In addition the oculoplastic (sp) repairs the area around the eye socket. Every professional sports team has one on call at all times.</p>
<p>That’s super-helpful, YoHo. Are all oculoplastics generally good? Is there any reason to wait for the “famous” guy at the prestigious eye institute who has no availability or are all oculoplastic surgeons likely to do an equally good job? Or, alternatively, are they all equally booked up? (Sorry if this is a politically incorrect question!) </p>
<p>I really dislike the circles under my eyes–I had a fraxel treatment (laser skin treatment) and the nurse In the plastic surgeon’s office told me I had malar bags, and that this condition was difficult to treat and often the result of age and heredity. Anyone know if this is correct?</p>
<p>YoHoYoHo, no, it was NK in Maine. :)</p>
<p>@nottelling,
Good question! For an oculoplastic surgeon, you do not need to wait for the “famous” guy at the prestigious eye institute. Best thing to do is go onto the ASOPRS website <a href=“http://www.asoprs.org”>www.asoprs.org</a> to find the MDs who are truly trained in oculoplastics. Some ophthalmologists will claim that they do “oculoplastics” because they will do blepharoplasties. But a fellowship-trained oculoplastic surgeon will have done an additional 2 year fellowship (if after year 2000, or 1 year if pre-2000; the requirement increased around the year 2000) after their ophthalmology residency. Then we must take an additional written exam, an oral exam, and write an original research article that is published in the scientific journal. There are approx. 550 oculoplastic people who are members of ASOPRS. Then you want to pick an ASOPRS member who does 100% oculoplastics (e.g. not lasik also, not cataract or glaucoma also, etc). This way, you have found someone who is well trained but also does a ton of the same type of surgery day in and day out.</p>
<p>@bromfield2,
Without looking at a photo of you, I cannot confirm whether or not you have malar bags. However, if you do truly have malar bags, it is indeed a difficult thing to treat. If you have the correct face shape, you could consider a filler (like Juvederm) in the valley that is below the malar bag. Again, it’s difficult to say without seeing a photo.</p>
<p>@Yoho–would I go to an oculoplastic surgeon for a consult on malar bags?</p>
<p>Yoho…I would be at your office in a nanosecond if I lived in LA…that’s all I can say.</p>
<p>@yohoyoho: I’m the one in CT who will go to J.O. (when I can scrape up the money). </p>
<p>I found a GREAT website that goes into all sorts of discussion about Bleph. <a href=“http://www.drmeronk.com”>www.drmeronk.com</a> I have since found out that what I probably need is called a Tissue-Sparing Upper Bleph. I sort of knew that I wanted to save that heavier upper lid , with not much showing that closes over the eyeball. It’s just sagging and I’m getting that extra fold and creping. The website has a great video with drawings (15 min) that shows the 2 different procedures…the one that takes out skin, tissue and fat and the Tissue-Sparing…which just takes out the skin. All sorts of other things it discusses that is quite informative. I think it’s good to be armed with this knowledge before going to a consult, so you will have various questions to ask.</p>
<p>As promised, I’m returning with my experience with my consultation Monday. It was not with an oculoplastic surgeon, as I had made this appt. before YoHo said we should go to one…and I also want to see the difference between what each says. Although this cosmetic surgeon is very well known in our large metro city and the pictures of his patients look good (and I have a friend that went to him), I was not impressed with our discussion about “me”. </p>
<p>I have full upper eyelids and just a sliver of lower eyelid showing (this has been this way since my youth and I like it). My eyes are small and almond shaped. My brow is dark and thick and although I keep it threaded, I keep the fullness. I’ve plucked thin before and it just doesn’t go well with my small eyes, my fuller brows frame the eyes better. They are not high on my face, but sit a bit lower on the brow and angle up before the tail. Probably TMI, but it goes with the story. Also, I have no horizontal wrinkles on my forehead and i do not feel as if my brow has fallen at all, if it has it’s so little and not noticeable.</p>
<p>I spoke with a gal first about myself, and she took notes. Then I had my picture taken, so they could do a composition of what I would look like. I didn’t see that until after I spoke with the doctor.</p>
<p>He never asked to see pictures of me from different decades of my life, and I’m the one that offered to show him. He asked what I wanted to do, and I basically told him the above, and showed him my pictures. I wanted to keep my full upper lid, not much lower lid showing. He told me I could pass for someone 10 years younger (I would say 6 or 7, but 10 is pushing it). Anyway, he said he’s all about what the patient wants, etc. but what HE would do is a upper Bleph plus a brow lift…with the incision just in the middle of my head up in the hair. He then pulled it for me to see (the end of my brow towards my nose). Now, instead of my brows slanting up…they were straight across. I hated that so MUCH. I didn’t say that, but said Iiked my eyebrows lower. He said that I’d be back in a year because my eyebrows would continue to fall and I’d want the lift. I told him my eyebrows naturally sit lower even when young and proceede to pull out my 25 year old picture AGAIN and he said, “oh, yes…I guess your eyebrow do sit lower on your face”. DUH!!! I heard how he was triple board certified by him and his staff about 4 times. </p>
<p>I’m very polite and ask questions about tissue sparing upper Bleph, which he doesn’t do. I’ve read that the fat in our upper eyelids helps hold the brow up…so tissue (and fat) sparing is prefereable for a youthful look if you like this look. I’m wondering why he said I’d be back for a browlift…if he cuts fat then, there isn’t the support???</p>
<p>Ok…so we go take a look at my before and photoshopped after. EEK!!! I hated it. WAY too much lower lid showing (although he may not been the one to do the pic, I don’t know), and the raised brows. They photoshopped out my frown line, took out my dark circle line under my eyes (which OF COURSE will make it look younger) and took out the “bags” on my eyes, which I don’t really even have and couldn’t see a difference. I told him immediately that was too much eyelid showing so he brought it down to a more acceptable look. I told him again I just didn’t like my brows up that high and the way they laid and you could sort of tell he was a bit disappointed (or annoyed, taken aback) that I didn’t love it. He said, “I can tell you are a Type A personality and so am I”. You know exactly what you want and I will always do what the patient wants, so if it’s just a Bleph ok…but you look so much better in this one and angrier in the other. I didn’t like that comment about me being a Type A personality. I wasn never rude, it’s just that I feel I have my own opinion as to what is attractive and that wasn’t. Plus…I look less angry in the after because they photoshopped my frown line OUT! </p>
<p>Anyway, I took close up pictures of the before, after and then another after where they lowered my eyebrows back down to normal with just the BLEPH. He had left and an assistance came in to do the photoshopping and she even slightly agreed with me as she was lowering the brow back down to the natural state, then sort of stopped herself! haha</p>
<p>Showed my DH and he totally agreed he didn’t like his concept of my eyes. I’m really wary to go back to him since we have different opinions of attractiveness for ME and even if he says he will do what I want, I would be cautious he would show to much lower eyelid and I would end up with a hallowed look…or more than I want anyway.</p>
<p>YoHo…if you read this: 1) Is the tissue sparing upper Bleph not a common thing to do? I’m very curious about that. 2) Is it true that the fat in the upper eyelid holds our brow up 2) would you run from this guy fast? LOL! 3) Why do you think he thought to offer a browlift? The After picture looked like I was raising my eyebrows. i wonder if it was just because he’d make another $2500 doing that? Also…I am planning on making an appt. today with the Oculoplastic surgeon you recommended.</p>
<p>So…that is where I am today. I do have to say that the picture with just the Bleph was really pretty, with just a sliver of eyelid showing. Looks like me at 35…maybe even better because one sliver of eyelid always showed more than the other…but it was nice to not see the bit of sagging at the corners. I also plan on getting some Botox after seeing that picture! I’ve been afraid to do it, but I’m going to go ahead and do it! It does make me look mad.</p>
<p>Bump for YOho.</p>
<p>conmama, if you put @yohoyoho, it will send a message. </p>
<p>Thanks VeryHappy. I actually sent her a PM telling her I posted my experience with a few questions for her. I imagine she is a very busy Doc and probably just gets on CC once in awhile. Actually…I think I might have made my post WAY too long for anyone to bother to read through.</p>
<p>Okay, i will say this. There are definitely varying opinions on attractiveness and if the doc is suggesting something you disagree with find someone else. There are plenty of people doing eye jobs out there.You only have one face and you get to decide what it looks like.</p>
<p>That’s exactly what I was thinking Flossy. His idea and mine are not coinciding at all…so why go with him? He’s also not an oculoplastic surgeon. I made an appt. with one to go see October 21st…there is a $100 consultation fee with this one, but I understand. The only thing that bothers me if he doesn’t have a computer to show me an image that he is thinking…thank god this last doc i didn’t like had one, right? Plus, I took pictures off that screen to be able to show prospective surgeons what I DON’T want! I also plan on talking to another oculoplastic doc, too. I don’t know if age makes a difference…but the first one I’m talking to is 65 and the 2nd is 45. I wonder if different generations have ideas of what is attractive. Just a curiosity. I still want to find one that knows what tissue-sparing upper Blephs are.</p>
<p>Well, my doctor did not show me an image of what <em>I</em> might look like. He showed me picture of other people’s before and afters. Of course, I made it clear that I was doing this for reasons other than appearance, although I also looked forward to looking better. Not that there is anything wrong with doing it strictly for appearance, IMHO. :)</p>
<p>It sounds as if your problem with the first guy was the brow lift. The oculoplastic surgeon me be more in tune with people who just wast their eyes fixed. When you talk to the second person, you might want to discuss whether this is really a good time to do it. It may be that you would be better off waiting until things have drooped a bit more. :)</p>