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Archive for March, 2007

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Dear Dr. Seckel, I have bags and dark circles under my eyes and am considering having blepharoplasty surgery. On your website you prefer the transconjunctival laser blepharoplasty. Can you tell me why the laser is better in your opinion? Thanks, Betsy, Boston, MA

Wednesday, March 14th, 2007

Dear Betsy,

Blepharoplasty or eyelid tuck, a plastic surgery operation that is done to rejuvenate the eyelid and remove eyelid bags and dark circles under the eyes is the third most common cosmetic plastic surgery operation performed in the United States. When a person has dark circles under the eyes the blepharoplasty has to be done [...]

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Dear Dr. Seckel, I have had 2 blepharoplasty surgeries (all four eyelids) and still Look tired as my lower lids hang way down and I feel for lack of better word my eyes look like a basset hound. I had the scalpel blepharoplasty with the visible scar on my lower eyelids, I did not have the transconjunctival blepharoplasty you write about and I did not have the arcus marginalis release. I also did not have the laser. First surgery was with plastic surgeon, second was with occuloplastic surgeon, went back to a third plastic surgeon and he mentioned I should have had a canthoplasty instead. Does suturing the ligament to the bone cause eventual sagging because of weight of the cheek and gravity over time? Thank you for your time, Renée, Minneapolis,

Sunday, March 11th, 2007

Dear Renee,

The look you describe, also called the sad eyed look, hound dog eyes, ectropion, or scleral show, is the most common problem after traditional scalpel blepharoplasty of the lower eyelid. Modern Blepharoplasty usually avoids these problems. During the traditional lower eyelid blepharoplasty when the incision is made on the outside of the lower eyelid [...]

Posted in Blepharoplasty, Unhappy Results | Comments Off

Dear Dr. Seckel,I am 32 and have had dark circles under my eyes all my life. I have tried Teamine, Hydroderm, and all kinds of make up but nothing seems to work. I have seen a plastic surgeon in Boston who recommended a blepharoplasty but I read on your site that a blepharoplasty can make the dark circles worse! I don’t really have hollow eyes just a dark circle that starts next to my nose and runs underneath my eyelid out to the middle of my eyelid. Is this what you call a tear trough deformity? Will a blepharoplasty make it worse? I am starting to notice some bags under my eyes as well and this makes the dark circles worse. You mention an arcus marginalis release and fat grafting, doesn’t the fat make the bag worse? You also talk about a transconjunctival blepharoplasty, but doesn’t that leave loose skin behind. Thank you for your advice. Lizzy, Boston, MA.

Wednesday, March 7th, 2007

Dear Lizzy,

Thank you for your question. I congratulate you on doing your reading about plastic surgery and eyelid rejuvenation. The dark circles under the eyes that you mention do not sound like the tear trough deformity. The tear trough deformity occurs much later when the cheek fat pad begins to descend down from the [...]

Posted in Laser Blepharoplasty | Comments Off

Dear Dr. Seckel, I am confused and wondered if you could help. I have seen two plastic surgeons about blepharoplasty, both upper and lower a year ago. I did have the upper blepharoplasty done and am thrilled with the results. At the time, I choose not to have the lower lids done because the surgeon I selected told me that because of my large eyes that ectropion would most likely occur. The other surgeon who is wonderful as well talked about doing lower blepharoplasty with canthoplasty which he said would slightly pull my lower lids up. At the time all I could hear was hound dog eyes from the surgeon I selected. I am so displeased with my lower lids (no surgery) because there is a lot of excess skin which gives the look of deep wrinkles…it continues to get worse and has aged me. I would like to go back and speak to the surgeon that suggested canthoplasty and blepharoplsty and see if this technique is right for me. I wondered what your thoughts were. I am very nervous but want desperately to fix this problem. Mary, Indianapolis, IN

Monday, March 5th, 2007

Dear Mary,
The surgeon is right to worry about ectropion and hound dog eyes after a lower eyelid blepharolasty if you have large eyes or your eyes protrude a bit.
For eyelid rejuvenation of the lower eyelids in your situation I recommend a Laser transconjunctival lower blepharoplasty (no skin incision on the outside thus little risk of [...]

Posted in Laser Blepharoplasty | Comments Off