POSTED UNDER Eyelid Surgery REVIEWS
Very Unhappy with my Blepharoplasty (Upper and Lower Eyelid Lift)
ORIGINAL POST
I am hoping to get some insight from anyone who...
AndriannaJanuary 23, 2011
$4,000
I am hoping to get some insight from anyone who has had Eyelid lift (blepharoplasty).
I am 41 years old, and had upper and lower eyelids done has been 10 days ago. My swelling is down and most of the bruising, except for the dark purple ones on the left and right of my eyes. I feel like I look plastic - like one of my daugher's Bratz dolls or something. My eyelids don't seem to open all the way. When I look up my lids feel very tight and my eyes take a weird shape- like they can't retract into my eye sockets properly. Besides, one of my bottom lids seem droop a little. The overall effect makes me look like I am half asleep, or had to much to drink. Plus, I feel like the doctor shaped them wierdly, with the upper lids too high in the corners towards my nose.
I am feeling really self conscious. I did not tell anyone at work I was doing this, and I am totally paranoid that everyone notices that I look weird. I spent days looking at before and after pictures online, and none seem as drastic as the difference I feel about my appearence. I do realize this procedure takes time to heal, but somehow I can't imagine ever looking normal again.
My lower lids (bags) have bothered me for years and I would have done anything to get rid of them. The uppers were a little puffy but otherwise not too bad, but I would not have gone through with this had I known what it entailed and the potential length of recovery. The doctor/nurses told me I would be "fine" in a few weeks. I would appreciate sharing experiences with anyone else here who has undergone this procedure.
Will post some photos as soon as I get my camera fixed.
Thanks!
Replies (5)
March 1, 2011
I am six weeks post upper/lower blepharoplasty. Swelling above lids is just now going away. Looked like sausages hanging over the fold. Now it is beginning to look a lot better. It is still a little "stiff" when I look up as well but much better now at six weeks than at two! Under eyes still swollen in different spots creating assymetry. This is what bothers me the most. having two different sized eyes until the swelling resolves. I wish I had known this BEFORE I had the surgery! Its very disconcerting!
UPDATED FROM Andrianna
Hello, It has been 3 1/2 months since my eye...
AndriannaApril 23, 2011
Hello, It has been 3 1/2 months since my eye surgery. My eyes look much better than they did at 2 weeks. However I still cannot look up the way I used to before my blepharoplasty. My eyelids do not fully retract to allow me to see properly when looking up. As a result I still look a bit weird when looking up but it is something I have now got used to. My vision has also been affected, as my eyelid seems to be in the way when looking up and my vision is a bit blur (only when looking up).I guess I have to live with this... My lower eyelid results have been fantastic but my upper bleph could have been better...
Replies (3)
February 2, 2015
Tell the doctor that you are unhappy. If he fixes the problem then he is a good doc. I was afraid to say something to mine. I found another doc and he did fat transfer under my eyes to make them look normal.
April 25, 2015
I wanted to add that I had to constantly pull my eyelids up in order to look up. I was really worried at first but it was all normal at 6 months post-op.
June 19, 2017
I had my upper done twice ...the 1st was total nightmare tops and bottom brow lift. 2nd 2 years ago and still have heavy lids . I'll never have surgery again.my fault I guess an ent did my 1st and an eye doctor my 2nd . Should have known to use a real plastic surgeon. Hope yours is just swelling it took mine forever to look half decent but didn't last. My bad I guess.
UPDATED FROM Andrianna
I just managed to take a photo of my eyes when...
AndriannaApril 25, 2011
I just managed to take a photo of my eyes when looking up. The arrow shows you the eyelid that doesn't fully retract into the eye's socket. As a result, my vision is blur (only when looking up) and my eyes look "weird".
Just wondering: is this normal? dfoes this happen to all of you who had blepharoplasty???
Thanks!
Just wondering: is this normal? dfoes this happen to all of you who had blepharoplasty???
Thanks!
Replies (51)
July 6, 2011
Thanks for sharing your experience. I can't wait to see your final result. Can you put pictures of your weekly progress?
Thanks,
Anna
Thanks,
Anna
July 6, 2011
Hello Anna
Thanks for your comment. I think I have reached my final result and things haven't changed much since my last post. I still look weird when looking up. I believe that the reason for this is that too much skin was removed from the side of the eye that is near the nose. That's why there is no crease in that area and the skin does not retract to let my eye completely open when looking up. Anyway, I am used to this now. I use makeup to create a fake crease. This is not what I expected but I have to live with it! :)
Thanks for your comment. I think I have reached my final result and things haven't changed much since my last post. I still look weird when looking up. I believe that the reason for this is that too much skin was removed from the side of the eye that is near the nose. That's why there is no crease in that area and the skin does not retract to let my eye completely open when looking up. Anyway, I am used to this now. I use makeup to create a fake crease. This is not what I expected but I have to live with it! :)
August 20, 2011
I also have a paradoxical oddity when I look up and my lid actually goes goes down for one eye. No one seems to know what happened or how to correct this. Over time the scar tissue has dissolved a bit so it doesn't feel as weird. Strange you are the only other person I heard of this happening to. Best wishes.
July 8, 2011
My eyelids were done 6 months ago. The corner of right eye has "dogear" where stitches were incorrectly sewn. There are white blotches that resemble whiteheads on both eyelids and under right eye something he called a cloresteral bump. I never had that before and it is "oddly" where stitches were taken. He said that no one looks at my eyes anyway. I want to find out how to alert Kentuckians about Dr. Husley. Also want to find out how to correct this. I have been told it is not enough money to sue. Please help!
September 7, 2011
Hi Cadiz,
I had upper and lower bleph done 16 years ago and had the same situation with the white 'cholesterol' bumps where the stitches went in. My aftercare instructions was to gently massage the scar every day. Very, very gradually the swelling went away. And even more gradually (2 years +) the bumps went away. I didn't worry too much about them as they were hidden in the crease. Not once person has said anything to me. I've also had several of these bumps spontaneously form under my eyes, so I had my dermotologist cauterize them. They scabbed over, fell off and left no scar. Maybe you could try that out on only one bump?
As for the dog ear, I believe you can get scar revision - the incision is remade and restitched in a better position. I would wait at least 1 year to make sure absolutely all the swelling has disappeared. It took a good 1 1/2 years for my eyelids to settle into their final shape. Good luck!
September 7, 2011
LorrGeneral: I am pleased to hear that there is hope for my eyes to improve on their own! I saw my PS a few weeks ago at the 7 month mark. I have a little bulge under my right eye - the doc says this could be leftover fat or just some minor swelling that could resolve on its own. He wants me to come back at the one year mark and take another look. I am EXTREMELY hesitant to have a revision. Did you experience any bulging at outer corner under eyes?
September 8, 2011
Hello Santa Barbara,
I did not have any noticable bulging at the corners under my eyes, rather I had an overall swelling of the lids (the lids were quite thick for a while), and overall puffyness under the eye. Honestly no one really noticed it - I wore glasses and eye makeup and looked totally normal. I made sure not to put any creams or moisturizers near my eyes and to use oil free makeup remover, as that has always made my eyes puffy - even before the surgery. My best advice is to wait. It takes a lot longer than people think for everything to settle down, and after the initial swelling is gone, it happens so gradually that it sometimes seems like nothing is happening.
I did not have any noticable bulging at the corners under my eyes, rather I had an overall swelling of the lids (the lids were quite thick for a while), and overall puffyness under the eye. Honestly no one really noticed it - I wore glasses and eye makeup and looked totally normal. I made sure not to put any creams or moisturizers near my eyes and to use oil free makeup remover, as that has always made my eyes puffy - even before the surgery. My best advice is to wait. It takes a lot longer than people think for everything to settle down, and after the initial swelling is gone, it happens so gradually that it sometimes seems like nothing is happening.
September 8, 2011
My swelling is at the outer corners under the eye(more so on the right eye). The PS said he still has hope this will resolve in time as some people are slow healers. I have thyroid issues as well so I am hoping the one year mark will see improvement enough so that I don't require a revision. I am scared to death of another surgery. The upper eye area at 7 months looks fine - he was very conservative so I don't look drastically different. I had some minor under eye issues and was talked into the under eye surgery. Now I have only bags on the outside corners!
February 2, 2012
Hello Cadiz. are you from Ohio, the Clark Gable town. I am from the Steubenville OH area. My experience has been similar to yours. Ohio has only 1 yr limitation to sue and needs to be changed. I also have those bumps at the incision area. I think everyone looks at ones eyes (the window to the soul). I was told it wasn't bad enough to sue. Their is a lot of politics going on in Ohio and few md's will tell you the truth. Lots of lies to get rid of you. There are articles on the web as to how to complain and articles about how your MD & You can be black balled by the PS system if you do complain. If I can have some repair work done, I will write every Federal & State office and the insurance company who pays for these blotched eye jobs about my experience-a lot needs to be done about unqualified physicians doing the surgery. They are all after the baby boomers especially. It seems to be the norm that all md refer their patients to have eye lid surgery. Please write back
February 5, 2012
I am now 6 weeks post op from upper and lower eyelifts. I have a definite bulge at the outer corner of my left lower lid. That eye looked drawn up and pulled after surgery. It has dropped down some, but the big problem is the bulging lower lid. With makeup I can hide it somewhat, but it is a definite problem. My right eye now looks larger than the left. I also have a "pull" at the inner corner of my upper right eye which I'm afraid may not go away. It is on the suture line and I don't think it's because of swelling. I agree, that if I had known the length of time all of this would take to resolve, I most likely would not have done my upper lids. I was more concerned about the lower bags.
August 16, 2011
if you wanted to you could always have a little fat injected back into the hollows. Seems to be quite successful given the right doctor.
there's a promising before and after on realself under 'artefill' i think its on the second row. It should be pretty obvious. I would link it, but it's not possible with this comment box.
September 9, 2011
It seems that you are right! There are several solutions available. One of them is artefil. I need to research and find out the best option for me as I won't forgive mysef another misteke! Thanks so much for your advice!
October 8, 2011
Andrianna, I too have the same issue as you experience with looking strange and seeing blurry when I look up. I also cannot acutally look up as high as I used to. I also look sad all the time now and I wish I had paid closer attention to the "not worth it" reviews prior to moving forward with surgery. I hope more people pay attention to our stories and learn to love their natural look ...because it could be MUCH better than the results of this procedure if things go wrong ..as they unfortunately did for us.
November 12, 2011
Hi All,
I just found this website and your comments while i'm trying to find out what may have gone wrong with my surgery..I had upper eyelid surgery around 2 weeks ago..i'm 35 and i had the similar complaints about my eyelid as everyone else but now after the surgery, i wish i never had done this surgery..It looked very easy but it turned out that it was much more complicated than i was told. Aside from the scars which look like they won't go away and i'll live with these ugly scars, i can't look up! When i'm sitting and someone is in front of me standing, i can't look up to that person and i feel weird and stupid and i cant lift my eyes..This is a terrible felling..i am shocked to read other comments here that this won't go away :( Also, my vision is blurry all the time like there's a cloud in my eyes and my eyes are so dry that i carry my eye drops whereever i go. Even i put it all the time, my blurry vision doesnt go away for hours. This makes me look tired and sleepy all the time. I want to sleep all the time because of this blurry vision which is very tiring. I had lasic surgery 2 times years ago to correct my vision and noone told me if that could affect my vision after this surgery. I had asked my DR and he said it wouldn't be a problem. I am even not sure if that may be the reason! But something is wrong...Also, after my stitches are taken, the cut became wide and something yellow is coming from inside the skin everyday..It's really gross. i'll see the DR tomorrow but what will he do to fix this??? i'm not stupid to see that he has done something wrong. My advise: do not have this surgery until you are 100% sure about your surgent and if you really look awful or can't open your eyes. If not, it's waste of time, money and after look is worse than the previous look.
Hi Andrianna -- Welcome to RealSelf and thanks for posting your story. If you haven't already, you may also want to post your question on our Doctor Q&A Forum for some professional opinions.
I've heard of not being able to shut your eyes completely after surgery, but not the other way around. Have you asked your doctor about this?
Good luck and please keep us posted on the rest of your recovery. :)