Chronic Under Eye "Swell Bags" Due to Lymphatic Drainage Problem , Triggered by Restylane Injection
I am a 50 year old female and I had restylane...
I am a 50 year old female and I had restylane injections done in my tear troughs two years ago. They looked good but had these unusual bumps or ridges in the malar area underneath. I had the filler reduced with an enzyme a week later but still had a bump on the left side. Then last April I had a blepharoplasty and while the surgery looks good, the ridges came back full force under both eyes and it seems to have take on the shape of the swelling from the original restylane disaster.
Anyway, I went to an ocular plastic surgeon and he said that is was a lymphatic drainage problem and if it hasn't gone away by now then it never will. It's been 7 months since surgery and has improved somewhat but still there. He said the only thing to do to treat it was a steroid injection but has a low success rate and would look worse for a few weeks since it would initially add to the fullness.
Also,he said if I have other surgeries like a face lift (which I'll eventually want), that it could exacerbate the problem and I'd swell up there moreso again.
Restylane fills nasolabial folds really well but I don't recoommend putting it under your eyes !! I had deep dark tear troughs. Now I was told I have clogged lymphatics under my eyes which result in these swell pads under my eyes just below the eye hollows at the malar membrane.
Has anyone had this problem ? Should I do the steroid injection (not Kenalog but a short acting steroid)? What about lympatic drainage massage ?
Replies (35)
Hi Debbie, That's interesting that the hyaluronidase didn't really work. I couldn't get anyone I trusted to do it for me. I did however figure out that is was "lympahtic stasis" and that in some people , restylane injections could clog the lymph area. The area between the eye and cheek is very tricky. it's been 2 years since I last used restylane there too. And when I had the blepheroplasty it got more swollen but has gone down some but not completely. I went to this great oculoplastic surgeon, Dr. Richard Lisman in NYC. He's the one who figured this out. It's hard to treat but I"m going to give it more time and then he said he could try to inject a small amount of a short acting steroid into the area. He said it could look worse for a while since you're adding fluid, but then in up to a month it would simmer down and help go down. It would not necessarily work, he told me, maybe a 25% chance of success but I figure that's better than nothing. As long as it doesn't make it worse which he said it shouldn't. So that's all I know. I've tried lymphatic drainage but didn't really do much . Maybe I didn't do enough sessions but at $150 a pop, it was getting expensive. Anyway, best of luck and let me know how you do. How do would I contact your email anyway ? You mentioned I could email you but I dont' think you'd want to post your email on the site. Sincerely Annibal
Dear tried but failed, I could recommend one doctor that I think would be conservative and really great. His name is Dr. Richard Lisman. He is an oculoplastic surgeon so he does only eyes. I didn't use him but I certainly would trust him knowing what I know now. Even though I hadn't used him, he is the only one I feel comfortable recommending. I'm sure you'd be fine with any number of surgeons. And there has to be alot of really good surgeons in Australia. Shop around locally. It would be good to have someone near you do the surgery for followup. Ask around and see if there's someone whose surgery you think is great and get their doctors name. Best of luck. I do understand traveling for the best care. Hope it turns out really great for you. Truly Annibal