Thought I Was Going to an Eye Hollow Expert...- Bellevue, WA

I went to Dr. Young to correct under eye hollows caused by a lower blepharoplasty performed by another doctor (she said she wouldn't remove fat but she did anyway while I was under general anesthesia). I had seen Dr. Young's before and after pictures showing how he corrected under eye hollows with Restylane and I was impressed. I also thought that with his fat transfer experience he'd be good at delicate under eye work.

His staff assured me that he was indeed exceptionally good at this kind of correction. Dr. Young himself stated that the thin skin under my eyes and lack of natural fat/tissue there would not be a concern. I went ahead and had 1/2 syringe of filler placed under each eye, with a small amount above the eye. After a good week of very bad swelling and bruising, I was left with very tell-tale lumps under the skin where the filler had been placed. It was and still is quite unsightly, especially in unflattering light (which seems to be everywhere!).

Dr. Young recommended massaging which I did tons of but it did not help at all. He also promised he'd make it better but when I went back at two weeks to show him how it looked his only suggestion was to put in even more. Of course that made me nervous so I opted not to take that route. I ended up going to another doctor (an oculoplastic surgeon) to put more Restylane in to smooth out the misshapen, asymmetrical, weird lumps under my eyes. This time the added filler was conservative and it helped for a while but after 5 months it is wearing off and what Dr. Young put in is again noticeable. Unfortunately I am unable to hide the strangle lumps with make-up; it just doesn't mask it. When he put the filler in I remember that I was a little concerned because he worked very quickly and was rather rough with the needle but I thought I was in the hands of an experienced expert. I was wrong.

I was hoping for natural-looking under eye contours instead of the lifeless hollowed out look I had from a bad lower bleph the year before (different plastic surgeon for the bleph).  After the filler treatment I ended up with noticeable lumpiness that is asymmetrical, unnatural, and placed oddly.

Hi, I was asked to post a follow-up photo now that I have addressed the Restylane lumpiness with a new and better product called Belotero. Belotero is new in the U.S. since March; it has been in use in Europe for years. I had it injected at Dr. Tarbet's office in Bellevue by a Merz pharmaceutical rep named Peggy. She has tons of experience and I have found her work to be a big help in smoothing out the unsightly lumpiness which resulted from the under-eye Restylane injected by Dr. Young last January. It seems to me that the Belotero does a much better job at mimicking the natural contours and fullness under the eye that I had prior to my unsatisfactory lower bleph (performed in Portland in early 2011). If Belotero had been on the market back then and if a provider would have counseled me to try it I think I would have been very happy with the results and I never would have resorted to the lower bleph to address the faint beginnings of bags under my eyes. The Belotero would have masked the barely visible rings under the eyes that were concerning me. I did not know back then that a lower bleph would prove to be such a disaster on my thin face. Now I will be working for the rest of my life to correct the lifeless, hollowed out look that resulted. Hopefully Belotero will be a long-term good thing to have in my "tool box!"