Has anyone dealt with xanthelasma - those fatty deposits on eyelids? I have developed them a couple of years ago and they really bother me (cosmetically speaking). In my research I see that they can be associated with high cholesterol, but mine is not elevated. If you have had these and had them successfully treated/removed, let me know how you did it! Dermatologist told me that pretty much surgery was the way to go.
I just looked up removal and it seems perhaps lasers might help. I’d check with another dermatologist.
My dermatologist won’t deal with these on the eyelids. He refers anything like that to an eye surgeon.
A plastic surgeon might be willing to do an office procedure.
I had a small growth near the corner of my eye (not on the eyelid). My ophthalmologist saw it and referred me to a colleague who specialized in ophthalmic and reconstructive surgery. That specialist removed it easily. She did a great job—only thing I didn’t like was that my insurance considered it cosmetic surgery and I had to pay out if pocket.
I’ve had them removed in a quick office procedure by a plastic surgeon. Pay out of pocket.
I have them and am going to have the derm remove them in the coming months.
I have them, just under my lower eyelids on the nose side.
I have high cholesterol, but these showed up shortly after my double cataract surgery. I haven’t done anything about them; luckily my glasses hide them fairly well.
I have them but have noticed they gave shrunken noticeably since I’ve mostly eliminated beef and pork from my diet (still eat poultry and fish). I do have high cholesterol.
My dermatologist removed one surgically. It stung when she did it. They come back if no alterations are made to lifestyle and diet to lower cholesterol, unfortunately.
I still do indulge from time to time in consuming beef and pork, but much lower consumption than formerly.
Happy New Year!
Thanks so much to all who responded…with the holidays I’ve not been on CC much so forgive my delayed responses. I had spoken with an oculoplastic surgeon who came highly recommended and have decided that I’m going to have them surgically removed and have a blepharoplasty at the same time. Since it’s not covered by insurance anyway, I figured I may as well make myself look a little better at the same time 
Surgery is scheduled for later this month, so if anyone has any tips or advice after going through the same procedure, I’d love to hear!
Be sure to have ice packs on hand. We bought several different kinds of ice packs from the pharmacies that are filled with beads — more compact and retain cold longer.
If you have dissolvable stitches, be prepared for them to keep being discharged from your eyes for months.
If you wear contact lenses, you will have to switch to glasses only for awhile so your eyes fully heal. Even after they heal, you may need to have a new technique for removing your contacts. H had to buy sone mini suction cups to remove his contacts.
Thanks for the ice pack idea @HImom . For a previous surgery I used bags of frozen peas inside a little soft cotton pouch that I sewed up (I was pleased with my ingenuity there! 
) but perhaps the “real” ice packs would work better. Fortunately I don’t wear contacts, so that’s a plus.
@my2sunz – how did your surgery go? My H’s eyelifts were covered by insurance as the Ophthamologist indicated how much it would improve his vision
I’m happy my cholesterol deposits continue to be slowly shrinking since I’ve nearly eliminated most red meat and switched to mostly fish, chicken, beans and lots of veggies. I’m hoping my cholesterol numbers will also improve.
@HImom - Thanks for checking in! I am about a week and a half post-op and all things considered, I think it’s going pretty well. I had upper and lower done; thanks to the lower ones I have lovely shiners, but they are gradually fading. I had the stitches removed on Tuesday. The upper was no big deal but the lower ones were SO painful, due to them being right along my lower lash line. I think that was the worst part of the whole thing. I wish insurance would have covered it, but no such luck. I’m interested in your change in diet and having the deposits shrink. With them gone, I would like to avoid having them reappear.
I’m having mine done this summer (want to wait until after my tennis season is over.) Mine will also be covered by insurance because the test they give indicated compromised vision.
I’ve mostly seriously reduced consuming beef and pork and lamb—maybe a few times a month rather than most days as I did before.
I’m eating much more fish and some chicken as well as nuts and beans. Will get a blood test soon to see how my cholesterol numbers may have improved.
Mostly, have noticed deposits shrinking and now are barely visible—yay!
@emilybee - feel free to PM me if you have any questions! (And lucky you for getting insurance to cover it!)
I recently went to an oculoplastic surgeon, who said my vision is compromised enough to warrant surgery & almost sure it will be covered by insurance. Unfortunately, they didn’t think the usual blepharoplasty would work for me, and suggested a different brow lift, resulting in horizontal scars above both eyebrows! I did not like the sound of that option. This may be the wrong thread, but I’m really curious if anyone else has encountered the same.
My H’s Ophthamologis eyelid surgeon had special training in TX (an extra year of residency), learning how to do eyebrow lifts. She lifted his eyelid to see what would be the best way to perform the eyelid lift surgery and said she’d would have to do the surgery on the inside but ended up doing it on the outside.
She had to take stitches out of one eyebrow because it didn’t match the other and put in new stitches so both eyes matched.
He has NO scars. I’d get a second opinion. I wouldn’t want scars at all.