Archive for December, 2011

Look into your eyes and what do you see? Many of my patients feel that the area around their eyes makes them look older or tired. The main complaints are:

• Wrinkles
• Dark circles and bags under the eyes
• Excess skin hanging from the upper eyelids

Let us address each problem:

My top suggestion for refreshing the eye area is to be on a good skincare regime which includes Vitamin A in the form of Retinol or Retin A , a daily sunscreen with UVA and UVB protection, an antioxidant eye cream for the delicate skin around the eye area. For those patients with the dark circles under the eye a lightening cream should also be part of their skincare routine.

The wrinkles around the eyes, or what is commonly known as crow’s feet or smile lines, can be helped with a product such as Botox or Dysport. This injectable product can be done right in the office and its effects last anywhere form 2-4 months. To maintain the results most patients return 3-4 times a year.

Bags under the eyes can be treated a few different ways depending on the individual problem.

For some patients filling in the area with an injectable filler such as restylane or juvederm can improve the hollowed look under the eyes.

For others ,with excess amounts of under eye skin ,a surgical procedure may be needed. This is called a lower lid blepharoplasty.  The excess skin above the eyelids usually requires surgery which is called upper lid blepharoplasty. Non-surgically, some modest improvement can be achieved by filling in the eyebrow area with an injectable filler such as restylane or juvederm . This causes a mild lifting of that area which in turn improves the upper eyelid.

Each patient is unique and a careful evaluation by a board certified plastic surgeon is the best place to start when considering cosmetically improving your eye area.