I have always wanted to get rid of the puffiness on my upper eye lid. Partly it is genetic and partly it is aging. I see myself always looking for the perfect lighting before taking a selfie and never like to have my picture taken by someone else because I can not control the lighting above my upper lid. I spent two years researching and found Dr. Eshima via a referral from Dr. Mabrie. When I looked Dr. Eshima up, I was astonished to find that he does not have a website. After googling him, I found all the reviews that I can find on the internet, including 120 reviews on Yelp. And one review on Real Self.Today is three days after the surgery. I chose Tuesday before Thanksgiving to have the surgery so I can have more time to recover.I had my surgery on Tuesday 11/20 at St. Frances Hospital. The nurses there are wonderful to work with. They give me heated blanket to keep me warm before the operation. Few minutes after I arrived at the operation room I passed out and did not even see Dr. Eshima coming to the operation room.When I woke up I was already in the recovery room. My stomach was totally fine and there are tapes on my eye lids. It was hard to open my eyes because of the tapes. Nurses put ice pad on my eyes and helped take some of the discomfort away. I later took one Tylenol before I left the hospital and I was fine for the rest of the day.My husband drove me home and I was in bed for the rest of the day. I tried to sit up with a lot of pillows behind me and eat food with no salt. I drank a lot of water. Updated on 25 Nov 2018: I slept sitting up against pillows and got up several times because it was hard on my back but the effort paid off because I woke up without much swelling. There is small amount of bruising on the inner corner of my left eye. Some redness on the outer corner but it is probably due to cleaning after the procedure. I have sensitive skin. I ate three meals with no salt added and just hang round the house for the most of the day. I used ice pack on my eyes on and off. Updated on 25 Nov 2018: Just realize Real Self does not allow me to edit after I add an update so the dates are off from my submitted reviews. My surgery was on 11/20. Day 2 I continue to see improvement. Still ice the eyes on and off and follow a low salt diet. Drank a lot of water. Washed my hair with chin up and managed to keep the forehead dry and medical tape stayed on well. Redness on outer corner of the eyes getting better. Because I can’t blink as well, eyes sometimes hire a little on the outer corner. If I keep them closed then they are fine. Sometimes I put a few drops in. At night I place the ointment into both eyes to keep them moist. Updated on 25 Nov 2018: Continue to sit up during sleep at night and ice during the day. Eyes can open a little bit more and start to see yellow bruising coming down both corner of the eyes. Updated on 25 Nov 2018: Start to feel a little itchy on the inner corner of my eyes where the suture end. Washed my hair every day and tape remains intact over sutures. Tape feels a little tight over the left eye towards the evening. Updated on 25 Nov 2018: Starts to wonder what my lid will look like after suture is removed. I will go back on 11/28 to remove all except for the three stitches on the outer corner. They will be taken out on 12/4. My eyes need a lift on the outer corner hence the three stitches. Magali from the doctor’s office called me every day including thanksgiving to make sure I am doing okay. This is a great peace of mind for someone who is very conscious of her looks. Updated on 26 Nov 2018: No significant change in eye. Red marks on my noses are from wearing glasses. Updated on 27 Nov 2018: Not much changes today. Tomorrow morning majorities of the suture will be removed. Outer corner will remain intact for another week as the skin is thinner in that area and it might take longer to heal. Out of curiosity I peel off the tape and took some pictures. I want to see if I have much bruising and swelling left under the tape. I later put the tape back on as instructed by the doctor and nurse. Updated on 28 Nov 2018: Today doctor took majorities of the sutures out. The remaining sutures are either hidden or on the outer corner. My doctor said Asian heals slower so it is safer to keep the suture longer to minimize any tears. My lids are a little red after the suture removal. Taking out the suture feels like a small pinch so does not hurt at all. I will come back in one week to have the rest removed. During this upcoming week, no heavy exercise, continue to sleep on my back, no wearing contact lenses, lots of water, no need for scar away until next week and sunscreen is ok. Updated on 29 Nov 2018: Lids are a little irritated after the partial suture removal. Red and swelling a bit. Will try ice after work. Working from home this week which makes it easier for me. Try to put contact in yesterday but eyes are a little too swelling so took them out. Updated on 29 Nov 2018: Found some videos on the net saying rolling eyes will help strengthen the new lids so here is goes. Updated on 30 Nov 2018: Went to bed early last night. Used ice pack for a while before going to sleep. eyes are still pretty swelling. Not sure why eyes are more swelling after suture is partially taken out. Maybe my lids are just very sensitive. Continue to roll my eyes throughout the day to help reduce the swelling. Pictures are taken in the morning. Continue to use scar away twice a day. Updated on 30 Nov 2018: Maybe it is not the best idea to roll my eyes because there seems to be an opening on the my eye. I called the office, emailed them some pictures and pretty soon I got a call asking me to go in and stitch them up. Doctor said out of last 30 years only 3 patients have this issue. I am so glad doctor took care of this. He said no rubbing and keep the movements to a minimum. We are still planning to remove all the sutures by next Wednesday. Last picture is after I was stitched up. (He numbed me with one shot. Slight sting but tolerable. Could not feel the stitches as he worked on me. Updated on 1 Dec 2018: Eyes less swelling as compared to last night after the five stitches. Will rest as much as I can over the weekend and hope the right eye will be ready for suture removal next Wednesday. Updated on 2 Dec 2018: Swelling in both eyes are getting better. Sitting around not doing much on the weekend. Continue to ice the right eyes hoping the suture will be ready for removal on Wednesday. It takes 1.5 hour to go into San Francisco plus my company Christina’s party is 12 days away. The sooner the suture can be removed, the more time I have for recovery. When the first set of suture was removed on the past Wednesday my eyes were swelling and irritated . You can still see the swelling on the left eye. Updated on 5 Dec 2018: Today doctor removed all but two sutures on my right eye. That is the location where he re-stitched me last Friday. He wanted them to be on a little longer to be absolutely sure that they heal well. I am going to come by on 12/17 to have them removed. I hope by then swelling will come down more. I believe my swelling has a lot to do with my lack of eye rest. Have been on computer all day since the week after Thanksgiving. Try to find a little break here and there and ice pack helps soothe the eyes. Will start to use scar silicone gel starting tonight. Can’t wait to be able to exercise again. Updated on 8 Dec 2018: Updated on 8 Dec 2018: Lids are pretty swelling in the morning. Updated on 10 Dec 2018: I am able to wear my contacts today and see clearly. The upper edge of the lenses feel foreign probably because of the remaining swelling on the lids. Continue to avoid salt as much as I can and sleep slightly elevated. Will have the final two sutures removed on Friday. Updated on 12 Dec 2018: Right lid is still more swelling than left because I still have two sutures in. Can’t wait to have them removed on Friday morning. Overall the lids don’t feel as heavy as swelling is slowly reducing. Even if doctor asked me to not look at myself everyday it is hard. Hope the redness and swelling go away soon. Updated on 14 Dec 2018: Last two sutures are taken out from the right eye today. Doctor said my lids are red, swelling and have scar tissue because I am in the middle of the first 6 weeks where this is more likely to happen. Also I have internal sutures that are not resolved yet so it could raise the lid. He said if it does not get better in 10-14 days then he can prescribe steroid cream to bring it down. After the removal I can open my right eye more but both eyes still feel tight when I look up. But this is normal according to the doctor. I will go back for my next visit in six weeks. Updated on 15 Dec 2018: Started placing mepiform strip on my scars since yesterday. Slept over night with them and they appear less red and swelling this morning. Updated on 16 Dec 2018: When I compare my progress on a daily basis (which my doctor told me not to but it will be near impossible for me), sometimes it can be discouraging. Because scar tissue continues to grow, I find it hard to look straight ahead because the scar tissue is taking up room in the fold. My fold is supposed to be 5mm after healed and I think it is currently at about 5mm so I don’t have much swelling left. Touching the lids don’t feel numb any more. The next two and half weeks will be a good test for my patience as doctor said I should expect to see scar tissue to be most active in the first 6 weeks. 2/12 will be my 12 weeks and I hope I survive the next 8 weeks and not drive my family and myself crazy. I ordered non prescription glasses from amazon so I can wear them to work or grocery shopping without people staring at my eyes. I did a comparison of my before surgery and after from today. This gives me courage to go on and not being too critical of myself. Updated on 21 Dec 2018: I am losing track of the days so start to use month or week. Got my non-prescription glass and have been wearing it around the house to get used to it before going back to work. Continue to use mepiform at night and partially during the day when I am alone. Started to do gentle scar message with Lucas Papaw Ointment five minutes each time and three times a day. I have not had to use any makeup for the last 4 weeks and my skin is getting a nice break. I might practice eye shadow and liner in a few days to see how it might turn out. Updated on 24 Dec 2018: The fold near right eye inner corner is starting form along side the areas where scar tissue formed along the two extra sutures. Even both are don’t feel symmetric yet it feels good to get closer. Scars on both eyes are still red and raised but this is to be expected from my research within the first 6 weeks. Tomorrow will mark the 5th week after my surgery. Continue to use scar gel and mepiform, even for phycological reasons. Updated on 25 Dec 2018: Today i plan to keep mepiform (silicon sheet) on all day. No plan to go to the store so I can maximize my chance of minimize the scar with mepiform. If I need to take a walk, just going to put sunglasses on. Keeps the scar out of sun as well. Two more weeks until I go back to work. Pray my scar will become flatter and less red by then. Doctor did ask me to give him an update this week if the scar does not get better and he will prescribe steroid cream for me. I have seen very minor improvement in the last 10 days so will definitely call the office tomorrow. One interesting thing I noticed - since the shape of my eyes changed, my usual eye make up technique does not work any more and I will need lighter colored shadow because the fold is wider. In the past I use revlon cocoa (matte) but now it seems a bit too dark. Updated on 29 Dec 2018: 9 more days before going back to work. Using steroid cream prescribed by the doctor twice a day. Seems to calm down redness at suture line a bit. Pray the scar tissue on inner corner of right eye calm down soon so both eyes are a little more even when I go back to work. Updated on 2 Jan 2019: Scar tissue on right eye has not changed much. Suture line is still red. Has been using scar gel, steroid cream and mepiform. Don’t see much change. Next doctor visit is 1/25. Hope for some improvement in the next three weeks. Updated on 8 Jan 2019: Updated on 16 Jan 2019: Right eye scar tissue has not improved since my last post. Cannot form complete fold on the inner corner. Hope this improves when I hit the 90 day mark. 40 more days to go. Doctor checkup coming up on 1/25. Last time was 6 weeks ago. Continue to use scar gel and mepiform. Updated on 27 Jan 2019: Visited doc last Friday and he said I am healing well and will see me in another 6 weeks. He wanted me to continue with the steroid cream for 6 weeks to get rid of any redness on the suture line. Updated on 13 Feb 2019: Suture line still red and scar tissue is still visible. Have appointment on 3/1 and will hopefully get a steroid shot to soften the scar. Since the minimum characters for the update is 200 I will copy and paste the text above to satisfy the requirement. Not a very smart requirement I have to say. Suture line still red and scar tissue is still visible. Have appointment on 3/1 and will hopefully get a steroid shot to soften the scar. Suture line still red and scar tissue is still visible. Have appointment on 3/1 and will hopefully get a steroid shot to soften the scar. Suture line still red and scar tissue is still visible. Have appointment on 3/1 and will hopefully get a steroid shot to soften the scar. Updated on 23 Feb 2019: Suture line still red. Continue to use steroid cream and scar gel on suture line. Doctor visit on 3/1. Hoping to get a steroid shot on right eye inner corner to soften the scar. It is coming down a bit on its own but when I lookup I still feel there I more weight on the right eye because the scar is preventing the fold on the inner corner from forming. Trying to take less selfie or looking at myself in the mirror less often. I know time is the key to healing. Updated on 5 Mar 2019: Visited doctor last Friday. He said my scar tissue is progressing well so no need for steroid shot. Continue to use the steroid cream, scar gel and mepiform at night. No redness at suture line unless I encounter heat or sit in front of computer. Updated on 10 Mar 2019: Updated on 21 Mar 2019: Updated on 4 Apr 2019: Updated on 19 Apr 2019: Updated on 4 May 2019: Updated on 15 May 2019: More pictures. Almost 6 months. Updated on 30 May 2019: Updated on 16 Jun 2019: Updated on 6 Jul 2019: Updated on 5 Aug 2019: Updated on 27 Aug 2019: Updated on 14 Nov 2019: Small amount of scar tissue remaining on inner corner of right eye. Has been using steroid cream for two weeks and will continue for another 4 weeks. Hard to tell from the pictures but I feel the pressure on when I look up.
In the age of digital access, it was a bit disconcerting to be putting my faith in a doctor without the opportunity to browse around a website. The intellectual side of my brain tells me that ALL doctors control their own content so a website, to some degree, offers very little objective content. But still... those thoughts tugged at the back of my brain. They tugged with a bit more ferocity as recovery crept slowly along in my guest room propped up on a pillow sending daily photos to my best friend, hoping to see progress. Having said that, I cannot thank Dr. Eshima enough for restoring my face! And I cannot thank Magali and Cathy enough for their tremendous support and encouragement. I am 53 and have taken good care of my skin. Dr. Eshima performed a facelift, neck lift, upper eye lift, lip lift and chemical peel on my lower face. I interviewed 3 surgeons in the bay area including Palo Alto but Dr. Eshima's personality fit mine the best; low key, confidant and humorous. One of my greatest concerns was looking pulled and unnatural. (Also the biggest concern of my husband who did not want me to have this procedure.) The surgery was easy (for me) and the recovery was better than expected. I don't want to cloud my review with technical boring data, so instead I will make it anecdotal; I travel often and over the years have noticed that NO ONE offers to help me anymore with putting my suitcase into the overhead bin. My sister calls it being invisible after 50. So on my first solo flight without my husband a few months post-op an attractive gentleman about my age offered to help me put my luggage in the overhead. I thanked him and declined his offer but I smiled to myself and immediately texted my sister. I would do it again in a heartbeat and I would only consider Dr. Eshima. There is a reason my dermatologist told me he's the best...because he's the best. I stayed in the Hotel Driscol for three days post-op with a private nurse (who was amazing!) but, if I had to do it again, I would stay in one of the larger hotels that Magali recommends that offers better food selection and private entry and more room to mill about. I'm very athletic so I can get a workout in in my bathroom if I had to, but a larger space would have felt better. St. Francis Memorial treated me wonderfully and I felt better about the procedure knowing that I was in a real hospital. I believe Dr. Eshima is on the board. Thank you again Dr. Eshima, Magali and Cathy! I'll stop by again in another several months to say hello and I'll post the before and afters when I receive the afters.
Perfection from beginning to end. Doctor Eshima was referred to me by a friend who had been a patient and had fantastic results. He doesn't have a website and is known as one of the top plastic surgeons in the world. His office staff are very professional and incredibly warm. They called me every day to make sure everything was going ok. He is a perfectionist in the extreme. He controls every aspect of the process personally. He has his own anesthesiologist and his own OR staff. He is able to predict how you will look and nobody will ever know because the results are so natural. I had Blepharoplasty done and it looks very natural and very beautiful. I highly recommend Dr. Eshima.
I was referred to Dr. Issa Eshima by my friend who is a model. I asked her who did her nose and she told me about Dr. Eshima. I got my nose done by him about 7 years ago (24 years old) and would like to say it was life changing. The best decision I have ever made. I'm looking to see him again for another facial procedure soon. Dr Eshima is the master. He's exclusive and word of mouth. Absolutely the best, this review is long overdue thank you Dr. Eshima Love Sarah S
I had a surgery done yesterday. The doctor Eshima is great. I am not feeling much pain it was much better than I expected. I was worried a lot. I am hoping for fast recovery and great results. And I am being optimistic. The sutures will be removed next Friday and following Friday. It's got two stages of removal. Magaly, Katie (work for dr Eshima) are great and they always answer their phones and always supportive and knowledgeable. It was hard for me to open my eyes first time yesterday right after surgery but now I can see and open my eyes without any trouble. Cheeks are puffy it became little more tender and I noticed an visible faded blue bruise on my left cheek. It's puffy but I am sure the swelling will go away soon. Updated on 1 Aug 2015: Overall things are great. Pain is almost not there, just feel heavy and blurry sometimes on my eyelid. Cheeks are still swollen, little tender Updated on 2 Aug 2015: Eyes are more open. Not much difference in cheeks Updated on 4 Aug 2015: Counting days to get my sutures removed. Swelling went down a bit. Updated on 11 Aug 2015: Swelling went down pretty good. No more red. Cheeks are smaller. Gonna get my remaining stitches removed tomorrow. Overall happy with progress. :) Updated on 13 Aug 2015: I used goggles / swim glasses to take shower. It's not recommended for someone had lower and upper eyelids done. Start from the back of your head with rubber side and gently cover your eyes. Do Not slide them down, it can pull or push your stitches. If it hurts a little bit or you got pulling, pushing sensation, it's not for you. Mine didn't hurt me at all and I took shower everyday after 3rd day of operation. I had eye boogers ?? So I started using "refresh PM" and put more in the morning then gently wiped it out. I didn't use eye drops much my eyes were not dry or irritated. So goggle thing is totally something I thought about and used. So do it on your own risk if you decide to. Updated on 19 Aug 2015: They don't look swollen anymore. I can go out without make up. They look beautiful with make up on.
Having modeled in my past, I grew up under that strange dichotomy of being horribly self-conscious, yet vain. As I entered my 30s, I found that my favorite feature (my eyes) were the ones most aging me. What were my "bedroom eyes" in my 20s became my "hooded" eyes at 30. My eyes appeared to have double eyelids, with an excess of skin resting on my eyelid crease. I tried remedying this with botox to get a brow lift, but the results were minimal at best and compounded the problem at worst. Finally, I came to the conclusion that with the amount of money I was spending on botox and creams each year, I could ultimately save myself the disappointment and cash by getting an upper eye blepharoplasty. Now remember when I said I was vain? Right. I am not just going to let Anyone cut up my face. If the results had been bad, I am not sure mentally I would have dealt well with that. I wanted the best and after an extensive search that took me Years, I placed my faith and face in Dr. Eshima's hands. Yes, it is not cheap, but this is your face. Do you want a Groupon for your face? Let's be real. There was never a time that before, during or after I had the procedure that I felt afraid of the outcome. When your doctor produces results like the before and after pictures I had viewed of his clients, you do not fear that you will be botched. This peace of mind is priceless. I will post pictures of my before, day of, one month and 7 weeks after pictures and you can see for yourself what my words can not do justice to. I am beyond happy with my results. I experienced zero pain and was back at work (albeit with stitches still in) 5 days after the procedure. It is now four months after the surgery and I barely see my scars. It means so much to me to look in the mirror now and Love what I see. Updated on 22 Oct 2014: The other pics I uploaded were a large file. Consequently, they shrunk them to fit. Sorry about that. Here's the pics split up. Hopefully the come across more clearly.
I have long taken fairly youthful looks for granted. The past couple of years have been very stressful and taken their toll on me. I found myself looking run down and tired. I had a slight droop and the start of jowls. I am embarking on a new leg of my life, and I wanted to feel good about myself. My decision for a lower face and necklift were born of a desire to feel good about myself. I decided that while I was at it, why not get the nose of my dreams? I have fine features, and always felt like my nose could be a bit more refined. I interviewed several plastic surgeons and decided on dr eshima on the spot. i definitely underestimated what a major undertaking an 8 hour surgery would be. the recovery is something to heavily consider. Due to the scope and nature of my work, the face/necklift, rhinoplasty and lip shortening, it's taking a while to get a glimpse of what my ultimate outcome will be. Be prepared for a period (maybe at week 2 ish?) of "buyer's remorse". I had been uncomfortable, couped up and isolated and still had a very distorted look. My nose in particular looked like an alien's- it was and still is pulled by the jaw and cheekbone muscles, and the rhino and lip shortening pull in opposition. In short, it will be about 3 months to understand what your results may be. Yesterday was my 3 week, and I'm just starting to feel ok about dashing into the grocery store, etc. Lymphatic massage and ultrasound and good camaflouge makeup have made a massive difference. I can start to see the beginnings of a more refined nose. There are absolutely no jowls. My big take away was a little bit of sadness- that I was so insecure that I would go to such lengths to be "pretty". I think it's important to understand and accept your motivation. I'll disclose taht I have tons of emotional baggage that involve a mother who didn't like me and always told me that I was ugly. I come from a family of beautiful women, and I always felt like "what happened to me"? In some ways this is my attempt at validation. I know my mother won't feel differently about me, but hopefully I will. I want to be self confident and like myself. This is by no means the only step in that process (sooooo much therapy over the years, internal work) but this is a nice way to treat myself and give myself a boost. I hope this hasn't been too psycho babbly, and can help to provide some support to some of you. In general, take very good care of yourself. Surgery is surgery. Pamper yourselves, don't judge yourselves harshly. Updated on 16 Aug 2014: Starting to feel more human. The swelling seems more manageable. TOday , masseuse said that my neck feels softer and my left ear sutures are healing up. Yay! Have accepted that it will be a while before I look totally human, but I think I like where this is trending. Nose still looks smashed, will take a while to get projection and minimize the distorted look. Updated on 7 Sep 2014: Hi All- Thanks so much for all of your wonderful comments and support. I'm thrilled to report that the 6 week mark saw some significant improvements in terms of swelling and almost more importantly, my outlook. Dr E let me know that the lymphatic system typically begins to function again at around week 6. I believe that was the case. I woke up exactly 6 weeks and one day post surgery and thought " I don't feel like someone's trying to strangle me". Then I looked in the mirror and my nose seemed to have pulled up a little in the tip. Yippee! That and the return of my masseuse, gave me a great boost. It's still a long haul, and Dr E is not rushing to take my "after" pictures yet, but I like where this is all going and can see light at the end of the tunnel. I'll post a few pics as soon as my phone charges. Thanks again to all for your support, it makes a huge difference. XOX Updated on 15 Sep 2014: I can see nice progress. I still have brusing on my neck, which I'm getting ultrasound and Lymphatic Massage for. The scar around my nose was pretty red, started using cortisone cream and it's been manageable since. I continue to scuttle around w/ massive layers of sunscreen, hats, covering my face etc, as if I'm expecting a SARS attack, but it's paying off. One bummer, my face swells whenever I workout too hard, so I'm backing off of cardio. Any hint of salt also makes my face blow up like a balloon. I am also still unable to laugh fully or make alot of the goofy faces I'm known for. Friends tell me that i seem "reserved" which is kind of bizarre. It's getting better though and all in all , I can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel. Hope you're all healing well! It's get better!!!! Updated on 16 Feb 2015: Well, still not 100 percent, but getting closer. Carbs and salt are my enemy. My face feels super tight and swells with both. The lymphatic takes quite a while to recover. All in all, I'm glad I made the investment in myself. However, do NOT embark upon this journey lightly. It has been a long and involved recovery. Still spitting stitches at this 6 month mark and it hurts to laugh, but it is getting better. Light at the end of the tunnel!!
