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5 months later...
Alrighty, ladies and gents!
Here they are-- my eyes, with tear troughs, a little under 6 months after the fact:
The hemosiderin staining is drastically reduced, most of the swelling is gone, and I do have two small areas of tingling within the nasolabial folds at the very base of each side of my nose. Otherwise, the feeling has returned to both cheeks, above the upper lip, and there is no pain-- just intermittent odd sensations as the nerves continue healing at the edges of my nose. Hope these photos help!
Much love to all of you, and many recommendations for Dr. Apostalakis.
Here they are-- my eyes, with tear troughs, a little under 6 months after the fact:
The hemosiderin staining is drastically reduced, most of the swelling is gone, and I do have two small areas of tingling within the nasolabial folds at the very base of each side of my nose. Otherwise, the feeling has returned to both cheeks, above the upper lip, and there is no pain-- just intermittent odd sensations as the nerves continue healing at the edges of my nose. Hope these photos help!
Much love to all of you, and many recommendations for Dr. Apostalakis.
6 Weeks Post-operative
Hi guys,
Just wanted to drop a few more pics of my progress:
First of all, the feeling has come back to the majority of my face! You WILL go through an itchy period, and a round of uncomfortable sensations (burning, stabbing-- especially if you're smiling or laughing a lot!), but as of now, I can feel both cheeks, pretty much everything except one ~1cm spot above my top lip, and a large portion of my nose (nostrils and tip are still fairly numb).
A lot of the swelling has gone down, and black eyes subsided, but now I have bruise-like rings under my eyes. I'm a nurse and talked to a couple of folks-- my understanding is it's a fairly common side effect in lighter-skinned individuals when they use blood product for facial/ dermatological procedures. What I was told was the blood components oxidize in place, effectively causing a bruise effect that's more visible (through your skin) the lighter your skin tone is. Dr. A explained this does occur in "fairer skinned" patients sometimes, but everything I've read or heard suggests it should begin to fade at about 3-4 mths post-operation.
Lastly, the attached pics are in natural lighting, with no makeup excepting brow filler and lip base/ liner. This is where I am with things right now-- hoping for some more formal pics when things progress another few weeks along.
Hope this helps!! XOX
Just wanted to drop a few more pics of my progress:
First of all, the feeling has come back to the majority of my face! You WILL go through an itchy period, and a round of uncomfortable sensations (burning, stabbing-- especially if you're smiling or laughing a lot!), but as of now, I can feel both cheeks, pretty much everything except one ~1cm spot above my top lip, and a large portion of my nose (nostrils and tip are still fairly numb).
A lot of the swelling has gone down, and black eyes subsided, but now I have bruise-like rings under my eyes. I'm a nurse and talked to a couple of folks-- my understanding is it's a fairly common side effect in lighter-skinned individuals when they use blood product for facial/ dermatological procedures. What I was told was the blood components oxidize in place, effectively causing a bruise effect that's more visible (through your skin) the lighter your skin tone is. Dr. A explained this does occur in "fairer skinned" patients sometimes, but everything I've read or heard suggests it should begin to fade at about 3-4 mths post-operation.
Lastly, the attached pics are in natural lighting, with no makeup excepting brow filler and lip base/ liner. This is where I am with things right now-- hoping for some more formal pics when things progress another few weeks along.
Hope this helps!! XOX
3 Weeks Post-Op
Hi folks!
Well, I'm at week 3... was going to wait until week 4 to post again, but thought I'd throw a picture up here after having worked a full day, with no makeup, to give a better idea of the healing process! I'm still a little puffy in the cheeks, and admittedly slightly bruised, but even though I'm dead tired right now, don't think I *look* as tired as I did pre-surgery.
Oh, if you're considering this procedure, one of the hardest aspects of recovery is the loss of feeling in the lower half of your face afterwards (entirely normal). Initially, it will be both cheeks, your nose, and the upper lip area. At this point, I've regained feeling in both lips and both cheeks, but my nose and nasolabial area (smile lines) remain numb. It seems like the nerves are healing, though, as I do have intermittent itching, tingling, and occasional sharp burning sensations in my upper cheeks where the nerve exits the bone within the operative site. I've also struggled with an intermittent foreign body sensation under my right eye this week (in the conjunctiva, or pink part under the eye), but find it well-managed with OTC allergy meds (Zyrtec for me), allergy eye drops, and the lubricating gel provided by Dr. Apostalakis's office prior to surgery. If it persists, I'll email or call Dr. A's office again.
I will say, I've sent weekly photos down to Texas for review, and the office staff and/ or Dr. Apostalakis himself have both been highly responsive, usually providing feedback within half a day of my updates. I've been very happy with their attentiveness and follow up, and do plan to wait until 4 weeks to send my next check-in... unless my right eye keeps feeling a little dry and squirrelly.
Thank you again for all your kind words and compliments-- when you don't "look like" yourself for a while, it does start to weigh on your self-confidence a bit. :0)
Well, I'm at week 3... was going to wait until week 4 to post again, but thought I'd throw a picture up here after having worked a full day, with no makeup, to give a better idea of the healing process! I'm still a little puffy in the cheeks, and admittedly slightly bruised, but even though I'm dead tired right now, don't think I *look* as tired as I did pre-surgery.
Oh, if you're considering this procedure, one of the hardest aspects of recovery is the loss of feeling in the lower half of your face afterwards (entirely normal). Initially, it will be both cheeks, your nose, and the upper lip area. At this point, I've regained feeling in both lips and both cheeks, but my nose and nasolabial area (smile lines) remain numb. It seems like the nerves are healing, though, as I do have intermittent itching, tingling, and occasional sharp burning sensations in my upper cheeks where the nerve exits the bone within the operative site. I've also struggled with an intermittent foreign body sensation under my right eye this week (in the conjunctiva, or pink part under the eye), but find it well-managed with OTC allergy meds (Zyrtec for me), allergy eye drops, and the lubricating gel provided by Dr. Apostalakis's office prior to surgery. If it persists, I'll email or call Dr. A's office again.
I will say, I've sent weekly photos down to Texas for review, and the office staff and/ or Dr. Apostalakis himself have both been highly responsive, usually providing feedback within half a day of my updates. I've been very happy with their attentiveness and follow up, and do plan to wait until 4 weeks to send my next check-in... unless my right eye keeps feeling a little dry and squirrelly.
Thank you again for all your kind words and compliments-- when you don't "look like" yourself for a while, it does start to weigh on your self-confidence a bit. :0)
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