34 Year Old Looking to Maintain my Looks for Confidence and Empowerment Using Restylane for Under Eye Tear Trough - Columbus, OH

I am not the typical patient. I have a connective tissue disorder and there are a great deal of medical issues involved with that (feel free to google Ehler Danlos if wanting more information). Basically, my connective tissue is faulty. I am super flexible, not in a good way, and deal with a lot of pain from day to day in varrying degrees My skin and tissues are different. This disorder has sucked a great deal of my youth and confidence. Some might think why on earth would you want to add more trauma etc for vanity sakes? I will tell anyone that personally for me looking better helps me feel better. In a way it's me telling my connective tissue disorder to bug off and continue living. I will age gracefully as best as I can. For me that involves the use of technology and modern medicine to help me gain as much confidence as possible. About 3 years ago I noticed a dark spot on my forehead and thought oh must've slathered my sunscreen unevenly. As the summer wore on the spot was more noticeable. After a dermatologist visit I found out it was Melasma and not easy to treat in terms of lasting results. I adopted a new skin routine using a clarisonic pro and lytera and was scheduled for an IPL. The doctor at the time assured me it would be safe even with a connective tissue disorder. Luckily, I posted the question to an Ehler Danlos forum and had a few super concerning responses. Basically, the IPL increases collagen thus improving fine lines and discoloration and veins. However, some people with Ehler Danlos have a faulty collagen production to begin with. I heard horror stories from women who say the IPL ruined their face. Because of the faulty collagen production the laser caused extreme fat loss of the face and caused extensive sagging in the face. Yikes, say what! Upon further review the manufacturer does not recommend IPL for people with connective tissue disorders because of possible ill affects that may occur. So I cancelled the IPL and made an appointment with my dermatologist who said he would recommend chemical peels and/or a product called Triluma. The Triluma has helped moderately. Honestly, the best thing is zero sun. My new habit is hats, it's annoying and challenging at times because I'm an outdoor girl. I love staying outside and basking in the sun. I guess on the plus side less chance of sun cancer as I am diligent about keeping it off my face. Even in the car I have to wear hats/sunscreen as the glare from the dashboard will cause it to darken. I also had my first Botox injections. I was so nervous and scared and did I mention scared. However, it is by far the most miraculous thing I've ever tried in terms of boosting not only my looks but self confidence. Since my dermatologist doesn't really do chemical peels I began the search for a board certified plastic surgeon in my area. Made an appointment with a few and decided on Dr. Summit Bapna. By this time the melasma has really faded thanks to triluma and so I mentioned some other issues with my face. I'm one of those girls that get stuck with a feature like my veins showing, and my nasiolabia folds. He was excellent in listening to my concerns but also realistic and honest in terms of we could do that. However, you won't have lasting results and recommended some things I like his getting the best bang for my buck. He then showed me that the part of my face giving me added aging wasn't the things I was focused on but the loss of volume under my eyes. Honestly, at first I was thinking hmmm right okay (sarcastically) and he suggested tear trough under eye injections. I went home and started looking at photos from the past and sure enough what he pointed out was unfortunately true. I was really kind of surprised on how I could miss this. I think I was so focused on the melasma whenever I looked in the mirror that was my focal point. I then asked the most honest person in my life, my daughter, "What do you think adds the most age to my face, after 2 seconds she said your eyes and clarified you are still beautiful, ha ha. Well now how on earth did I not notice this!?!? So armed with new evidence on how to improve my overall looks. I began searching restylane injections and unlike Botox there are many mixed reviews. Luckily, with my doctor I felt comfortable asking many important and probably ridiculous questions. He was very honest, very informative, and super personable. He is very patient for the nervous hyper patient such as myself. Most importantly he is board certified and specializes specifically in the face. I scheduled with Dr. Bapna and at 1:45 pm we began the process. First, he cleaned the area and applied numbing cream. He then inserted a needle into the cheek area. It was not to painful but weird and uncomfortable. I felt a pinch and then could feel the needle against bone structures in my face. I would say each eye took 10 minutes. He explained each step as he did it and asked several times If I was okay. After the procedure I felt pretty good and didn't seem to notice bruising. Day 2, I woke up super duper swollen and was popping arnica like tic tacs. Very red and really swollen. I expected this since with the connective tissue thing I always swell, bleed, and bruise waaaay more than most. By 9:00 that night I was a little concerned as the swelling was really intense and red. Day 2 still swollen but much less so. Still not public ready but headed in the right direction. The second night I slept upright and I really thing that helped immensely. It's too soon to say what I will think of the results as it is still swollen. I will update the full result once there. I appologize for the long story but I wanted to go into depth in case other connective tissue patients or people are considering these same procedures.

Swelling went down after about three days. Honestly, I was a bit worried as it was pretty intense. Today was my first day in public and I felt good about myself and decision this far. Luckily, no bruising! Amazing considering I bruise extremely easily. I was super hyper nervous even though I felt confident in my choice of doctor. He did a great job explaining the procedure and was very skillful at applying his knowledge of the face while using a light artistic hand to enhance my self confidence.

I like my results. I need a tad more filler on the left side under the eye and will go for that in a week. Giving the filler a bit of time to settle. Decided to get some botox in the eye area and the combination is a nice result. Botox is probably my favorite cosmetic procedure because it's quick and effective. Dr. Bapna has a very gentle hand and I had zero bruises with filler or Botox. He uses a light hand and doesn't give unnatural results.