Dear Dr. Seckel I currently live in Italy, close to Milan. 1 year ago I went to a plastic surgeon here in Italy, because I had bad dark circles under my eyes and wished to do something about them. He told me that a blepharoplasty would not better the situation, and that I should do a lipo-filling under my eyes to cover up the dark circles. He injected fat grafted from another part of my body under my eyes, and the result was horrendous: the fat was uneven under the skin, and stuck out, making me look older and actually giving me bags under my eyes that I had never had! This fat in still visible under the skin, and has given no sign of re-absorbing. Six months after this disastrous lipo-filling operation, I went to another surgeon here in Italy who suggested a blepharoplasty on both upper and lower eyelids to try and mask the lipo-filling. In the blepharoplasty, the Surgeon took away fat from under the eye to try and create a “dent” so that the fat from the lipo-filling would no longer be visible, and I believe that he also took fat away from the upper lids too. The scars from this operation, six months on, are clearly visible: on the upper lids, the outer area of the eyes is marked with red scars. On the lower eyelids, the incision was very low down, and was not cut along the lash line. Where these scars are present, the skin bulges out - I’m not sure whether this is because of the scarring or the fat that is still under the skin. Under the right eye there is a lob of fat under the skin that sticks out toward the cheekbone and is very aesthetically unpleasant. In addition to this, I would like to inform you that after the blepharoplasty operation, I was ready to go home when all of a sudden I started bleeding from under my left eye, and so was rushed back into the operating theatre just in time so solve this problem, and so the left eye was operated on twice in one day! I have been through so much trauma and the thought of having further surgery scares me a lot, but I know that I need and want to solve this problem. Thank you, L., Milan, Italy
Dear L,
I am so sorry to hear of your experience. I have, for several years cautioned against the injection of fat, lipo-injection or fillers around the eyes to correct dark circles under the eyes.
Your experience of lumps around the eyes, unfortunately is a common one following lipo-filling injection and filler injection procedures around the eyes. I am just grateful that your eye was not injured and you did not suffer damage to your vision. I have been able to remove the fatty lumps caused by needle injection or lipo injection, from the eyelid using the laser transconjunctival approach through the pink part of the inside of the eyelid. It is a delicate maneuver but can be done.
Persistant lumps around the eyes following lipo injection are usually caused by fat that has been injected between the skin and underlying muscle or between the muscle and the septum and thus is not accessible from the usual blepharoplasty approach.
I would be happy to review your photos confidentially if you want to send them. I could then give you a better idea of your options. I hope that your experience can help others considering filler or fat injections to correct dark circles under the eyes avoid such an unhappy experience. You may contact me for further questions about the treatment of dark circles under eyes.