Eyelid Surgery: Stories
Write a ReviewIncredible Doctor - Scottsdale, AZ
- Scottsdale1247
- posted 2 years ago
- updated 3 months ago
- Worth It
- Cost: $4,300
- Paul K. Holden, MD (Scottsdale, AZ)
I had upper bleph and also lower transconjuctival...
- 19 Jan 2011
I had upper bleph and also lower transconjuctival bleph done. It has only been 16 days post op and I am very happy. My eyes look more alive and open. I have more swelling time ahead of me but everyday gets a little better.
The day after was the hardest, my eyes were almost swollen shut and my tears were tinted red. The first few days are definitely tough (get some audio books!) but once the major swelling goes down, its gets better quick.
I never needed anything stronger than tylenol for pain but I definitely utilized Ambien (your eyes are crazy dry and irritated) and Valium (even though you can prepare yourself, its hard to see your own face like that!).
If I had to do it all over again, I would have done this surgery years ago to fix my heavy lids (they were also not symmetric). I was lucky to have found the best doctor too. He was having some special opening prices when I had my procedures done but I would have picked him regardless. It was worth it and then some!
Over 5 months post op and have had a few minor...
- 16 May 2011
6 months post op, lower lids have gotten slightly...
- 18 Jun 2011
Had upper eyelids lasered about 2 weeks ago to...
- 2 Jul 2011
One year post op and I am happy with my decision...
- 16 Jan 2012
My Doctor: Paul K. Holden, MD
My rating:
Dr. Holden is the one of most caring, sweetest, and supportive doctors I have ever met. He is so attentive and always has an encouraging and positive attitude. He personally answered my emails when I first inquired about surgery. After surgery, gave me his cell # so I could contact him directly with my worries, questions or emergencies. Great follow up care. He always comforts me with his confidence, knowledge and reassuring words when I have any worries and is easily reached when you need him. He is an incredibly intelligent and talented surgeon, but also has the excellent and important artistic eye that some lack. I highly recommend him and only him for any facial work. He takes his time explaining things, addressing your concerns, and answers all your questions. When you meet him, you can tell that he puts his heart into his work and truly cares about each individual patient, not treating them like just another paying customer.
Thanks, he definitely changed my life. 30 is not old but it seems terrifying when you are 29 lol. Now that I am 31 it's not so bad! The enhancements has softened the blow too haha
I am so glad to have been able to help-the laser resurfacing definitely helps tighten the skin and faded some of my sun damage, and like I said, sloughs off in 4-5 days. I was kind of quiet about getting mine too but afterwards was comfortable talking about what I had done if it ever came up. You'd be surprised how common it is-I've met some ppl that when you bring up plastic surgery they say, yea I had that done a few years ago too -and I never would've guessed. I don't mind talking about it at all (obviosly lol), you just gotta own it and be happy with your decisions. I can't wait to hear and see how it goes, I hope you write a review with pics so we can see! It is possible you may see me at dr. Holden's as I go monthly for filler touch ups:)
lower lids. Thanks SO much again for all your help!!!
Yea, the laser can cause some hyperpigmentation in some skin (darker). I did spot treat some sun spots once and they did seem a little darker initially. You do have to be careful on the type of skin you treat and how strong. Maybe you can get on some retinol treatment. I have heard good things about Obagi trentinoin. I would also look into getting some peels-I get really light ones, (Skin Medica Vitalize peel) glycolic w spot treatments of the retinoic acid and they do help, more so when I do them monthly instead of periodically. I really despise the sloughing off though bc it takes a while for me since my skin is so sensitive and it makes me want to pull it off when I know I shouldn't! At least that requires no down time though.
I love the filler in my bridge. It is extremely subtle but to yourself it is a big difference since you see your face a million times a day in the mirror. Men don't understand lol. Of course it seems obsessive. But the striving for perfection comes from the pressures of society, it's natural for a woman! There is nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel the best that you can :)
Good luck on Thursday:) I am sure you are nervous and excited at the same time. I have no doubt that Dr. Holden will take phenomenal care of you and that you will have great results. Please let me know how you are doing afterwards!
Check your inbox, I sent you a msg. If you have questions or doubts I hope I can help and also you should not hesitate to email Dr. H.
Just put the mouse arrow over my screenname anywhere you see it (any of my comments) and a white box will show up that shows my member activity, in the lower left it will say in blue text "full profile" and below that "Send Private Message". Click on the send priv msg
Go to your inbox and click on my msg-when you read my msg there should've been a "reply" button below it.
So thought you'd be happy to know that I have had regular communication with Asianaz and she had the lower eye surgery and seems happy with Dr. H's work :) I agree with you though about having any doubts-there should be minimal!
Thanks! Fat transfer can be tricky-I did not have lumps and you always have the possibility of your body absorbing some of the fat. I may have noticed a small difference with some of the fat going down (it's been about 20 months post op) but it also took a few months for my eyes to adjust to the change so it the initial result was some swelling too. It did help a lot-didn't make them perfect but like you said, improved. I was getting filler put in that area and it was uncomfortable to get and I wasnt that thrilled with the results. I would encourage you to get that area resurfaced with some laser treatments to tighten up the skin as it really helps. It does require some downtime though.
The recovery for lowers was not too bad-physically they seemed to heal quicker than my uppers bc they didnt have an incision on the outside that had to heal that were visible to everyone. I was much more sensitive to allergy season though and normal irritations, they dry out faster, ointments at night before bed, stuff like that. My uppers took a lot longer than I thought they would to settle but my eyes are way more sensitive than normal. All my life, If I cried at night, the next morning my eyes would be abnormally swollen and sometimes my crease would seem to shift a little after they went down. bruising wasn't that much. The purple you see under my eyes is from the laser resurfacing. It turns dark brown after a few days (maybe 4 or 5 for me)and eventually sloughs off to reveal tight fragile healed skin.
As far as doing both at the same time, I encourage it if you can do it. You will save on anesthesia and by not having to take off time for 2 seperate surgeries. I originally only planned the uppers than shortly after making my surgery date, decided I wanted to go for it and just get them both knocked out in one day. It was also better for me mentally to not have to go through 2 healing processes bc you isolate yourself in your house waiting to heal-and its a slow slow process, minute differences every day so it seems like it takes forever. But when you see your weekly pics, you realize you've made progress. When are you going? I'm excited for you! keep me posted:)
its natural to be nervous about any surgery especially your face but you are in excellent hands so try to be more excited than anything! I had double lids before my bleph too but I had so much extra skin and fat covering them, it was hard to tell, one side even was going over my eyelash line. It was neverending frustrations trying to do any eyemakeup that was flattering especially since it would transfer onto my overlying lid. I now am free from feeling like I can't be seen without makeup- no eye liner and rarely wear eyeshadow (very light colors if I do). I promise you it will change your life but in an amazing way. dr. Holden is such a talented and artistic surgeon and I'm sure he will give you excellent care and results as well:) When is your bleph scheduled? I would love to hear how everything goes!
It is a pleasure for me to share my experiences if it helps in any way! I did have more puffiness under my eyes and as you said it was a subtle change but to me made a big difference. I also had the skin lasered to tighten it bc the lower bleph was done through inside of my lower lid so you have no inscision on the outside. He transfered some fat after removing some Juve that I had had injected there previous to meeting him. So as far as the filler goes-it can help but some ppl aren't that happy with it as it is a tricky area and you really need an experienced injector for that. I noticed it gave me a slight bluish hue as well and I didn't really like that either. If you are just removing a little skin on your upper, it will be easy especially if you are specifically leaving the current crease. I know the feeling, everyday looking in the mirror and having the one side always uneven, very bothersome to me. The lowers take a little more time to heal i think-i had eye sensitivies and dryness for months(used ointments at night before bed). I chose to do upper and lowers for a few reasons. I had the time off and wanted to go under anesthesia as little as possile (it saves you some $ too) and also I knew I was going to have improved uppers and didnt what my crepey undereyes to look mismatched lol. I had really noticed when I was 28, 29, how tired I was looking from both upper and lower lids aging. Healing was not as short as I expected but it wasn't painful. The hardest part was being patient bc you are constantly looking at them but they don't heal overnight-but Dr H thankfully was there to keep my spirits up.