Fixed Me After Bad Upper and Lower Belpharoplasty Done Elsewhere

So although I was plenty happy with my first round of filler in March I decided to come back for more in May. This time we used 3 syringes total whereas the 1st time 5 were needed. Its not good to overfill the first time and the best practice is to wait after your 1st session if you want more. Dr. Steinsapir said if I did anymore than these additional 3 things would start looking unnatural. He wants you to look good, not sell you as much filler as you're willing to buy. The filler was placed in the same areas - spread between my upper lids, nose and upper cheek / lower lids. I'm basically optimized now with the most amount of filler, in these areas, that my face can accept before it looks unnatural. I'm really happy and although its not as dramatic as going from completely botched to fixed the second session improved upon what was accomplished in the 1st session.

I was hesitant to post pictures for privacy reasons but I know how helpful pics where to me along this journey so I felt compelled to share. Close ups of my eyes and nose, before and after have just been posted.

If you're reading this, I sincerely hope that you're considering Dr. Steinsapir as your first choice. He is a truly gifted oculofacial surgeon. However, if you are in a compromised situation like I was, and you were damaged by another surgeon, please know that there is hope and Dr. Steinsapir does have the unique skills to fix you. As you have probably come to realize, he does specialize in repairing eyelid surgery gone wrong and he is incredible at what he does! It's like any area of medicine – if you have a very specialized and unique problem then you need to go to a top expert leading authority on fixing that specific issue regardless of how far you have to travel.
I had horrible upper and lower blepharoplasties 4.5 months ago. I was left with retracted lower eyelids and hollow tear troughs. My upper eyelid crease was made super high at around 15 millimeters above the lash line and my entire upper eyelid was exposed. There was literally just a dent underneath my eyebrows. The previous surgeon removed way too much fat and made the incisions way too high on the upper eyelids. He did my lower blepharoplasty through an external incision (transcutaneous) despite the fact that I have facial features that made me a poor candidate for that approach and prone to lower eyelid retraction. My lower eyelids were retracted and you could see the white underneath my iris (scleral show). I looked horrible and sad and sickly. Basically, I looked like crap! Sucks when you go to get cosmetic surgery to look better and you come out looking worse than you did before! I really wish I did more research before choosing my first surgeon.
The first surgeon told me I looked good and that he literally didn’t see the lower eyelid retraction and the upper eyelids were a subjective matter of opinion. He went around in circles with me in a post-op visit to the point where I started doubting what I saw in the mirror. If you know your 1st surgeon screwed up and they won’t take ownership of it, don’t let them get in your head, and please seek out help. Or even if they do acknowledge their mistake and offer to fix it or even offer to fix it for free or at a discount don’t do it! Don’t let them ever touch you again! They screwed up once so they clearly don’t have the skills to fix it. Revision work is way harder. Don’t just let them try to fix it because of the cost savings or because they’re already “familiar with your anatomy” or whatever other invalid reason they give you. You only get one face. Every time you’re cut there is more scar tissue and it becomes increasingly difficult for anyone to be able to fix you. Fat and muscle and skin don’t grow back after they’ve been removed from you. Don’t’ use up what resources you have left. You may only have one more shot at getting this right. The stakes are way higher now. We can’t change the past but things can be done in the future to repair you. You don’t have to live like this if this happened to you! Maybe this sounds like I’m giving you some tough love or hard truth but when I think back to my mental state right after this happened I think reading something like this would have been just what I needed to hear so I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. If this is your reality, I know what you’re going through because I just went through it.
If you’re in this boat too, don’t be too hard on yourself. I know what it's like to scour the internet for countless hours, day after day, searching for answers and solutions. It’s exhausting and nerve wracking. There are so many different opinions and so much conflicting info. You don’t want to leave the house. You think you ruined your life. You beat yourself up because you tell yourself you were so stupid to take such a risk to look better. It’s enough to drive you insane. This thinking is not helpful. What’s done is done. It's not your fault. The surgeon screwed up. Focus on getting this fixed. I kept telling myself – This is temporary and it is fixable and that helped me get through. If you’re considering Dr. Steinsapir, I assure you that you’ve come to the right spot. You don’t have to keep reading those same web pages, scrolling more and more, trying to remember if you already read the same article last week, going through your browser history on our phone to try and find that web page that you think may have had the answers, trying to understand those medical studies with terminology you’re unfamiliar with, etc.. The solution is not on the internet.I was distraught and depressed and hated what I saw in the mirror. I knew I couldn't live like this and I knew that because I was now compromised with the distorted anatomy that I could not afford to have another surgeon damage me more.
I literally had 7 consultations, some virtual and some in person with other nationally recognized surgeons that do deal with revision blepharoplasties. Each of them said things that didn't quite sit well with me. All paths kept leading back to Dr. Steinsapir. At this point, I had already made up my mind that a long car ride or flight on a plane would be necessary as it would be foolish to limit myself to local surgeons who lacked the skills to address my tough to fix problems. I was in contact with Faith at his office over these last 4 horrible months. She spent so much time on the phone with me and gave me so much hope and emotional support. I was feeling so down on myself that I couldn’t understand why she was so eager to stay in contact with me without me even paying a dime yet. I think at one point, I told her that I was thinking “why does “this lady” care so much about me.” She really does have a heart of gold. Give her a call and you’ll see.I was so traumatized and sour on the whole plastic surgery profession that I was very skeptical and had my guard up but she continued to check in with me periodically and never made me feel pressured to come see Dr. Steinsapir. That’s how the mind works – you can think yourself into believing whatever you want to believe. You can tell yourself that all these surgeons are bad and are just out to make a buck and don’t care what happens to you (there are plenty that are like this but not all.) Or you can believe that there are good people in this world that genuinely want to help. And yes, it's completely fine if via someone’s profession they are earning a living and also passionate about helping people at the same time. In my opinion, those things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.Yes, you should make an informed decision but at some point, you have to take a leap of faith (no pun intended) and go with your gut. I came to realize that Faith truly does personally care about her patients and wants to see people that were damaged like me get fixed and get their lives back. She cares about you like a mother would. And she runs a tight ship. Callbacks are prompt. Emails are answered efficiently. The office is spotless. Every word on the disclosures you sign is informative and understandable. The formatting and font size are perfect. Yes, I know those are small details but It’s just a reflection of the overall precision and attention to detail that is given to every aspect of this medical practice. Machine-like precision with the heart and soul of caring and talented human beings.I never thought I would get plastic surgery in the first place. And then to have it get botched was even crazier. And then the thought of “I have to now fly out to Beverly Hills to get this fixed” felt like it was very bizarre. It was like my life turned into some crazy Hollywood tabloid nightmare except it was happening to me. Did the really happen to me? Is this my reality? Omg! Talk about WTF?!!As I scoured the Internet and had more conversations with Faith and didn't get the impression from any of these other allegedly top surgeons that they had the solutions to my problem, I made the decision to book a plane ticket and a week at a hotel in Beverly Hills and come see Dr. Steinsapir. Best decision I ever made throughout this whole ordeal. I never had doubts at that point in my journey. I knew that’s where I needed to go. I felt hopeful and excited to get there, not scared or nervous. In fact, the guy I sat next to on the plane asked me if I was nervous and I paused for a second to make sure I really wasn’t, and then I told him that I wasn’t nervous because I really truly wasn’t at the point. For me, I was embarrassed and ashamed of my previous decision and wasn’t comfortable telling many of my family and friends. Ironically, I was more comfortable telling a complete stranger sitting next to me on the plane about why I was on this flight, because of the fact that he was a complete stranger. Crazy the position having botched plastic surgery puts you in. And all of this was before I had even met Dr. Steinspair. Dr. Steinsapir does a much more in-depth consultation and diagnosis than any of these other surgeons. The consultation was over 3 hours and he took meticulous measurements and did a full ophthalmologic exam. He did confirm that I have some dry eye symptoms. Point being, depending on your situation you may have functional issues and not just a cosmetic issue. Faith always encouraged me to use dry eye drops during our conversation. They truly care about your health in addition to your appearance. Dr. Steinsapir physically felt my tissues and had me open close my eyes and look up and down and even look up and down with my eyes closed to assess my situation. He had me focus my sight on his finger as he moved his finger in 3 dimensions. None of these other surgeons did anything like this. He studied my face from every conceivable angle. It's like when an art aficionado stands in front of a painting for hours examining every inch of the canvas. That’s how he looks at you to determine exactly what he is working with and determine exactly what needs to be done.I did a ridiculous amount of research and had a ton of questions, some technical in nature. Dr. Steinsapir answered them all and even asked me several times if I had more questions. All the other surgeons seemed to be short on time and would end the consultations before answering all of my questions. I felt like I finally found “the guy” and it affirmed that my intuition that he was “the one”, was right. I wanted to get fixed as soon as possible and it was extremely tempting to go to one of these other surgeons that were within driving distance to avoid the logistics and cost of traveling but I’m so glad I didn’t cut any corners. Who knows what would have happened if I did that. Glad I didn’t have to find out.On the day of the consultation, I was given detailed quotes and an explanation of permanent reconstruction surgical repairs as well as given the option of having fillers. The cost and pros and cons of both were explained to me and I wasn't persuaded to choose either option or even to have the fillers done at the time of the consult. I was presented with detailed information so that I was empowered to make a fully informed decision. Being that I had healed for 4.5 months before coming out here, Faith and I worked out the logistics that I would come out for one week and that way if Dr. Steinsapir deemed it appropriate for me to have a filler treatment at the time of my consult, then I would already be here for enough time to have that done. He needs to follow up with you in the days after filler to see if any adjustments are needed. I knew that there was a possibility I might get told that fillers weren’t a viable option and I may have to hang out in a hotel for a week. If another surgeon tells you that you can fly in and fly out the same day for a “simple filler service” that should be a red flag too. Sometimes they need to be adjusted a couple of days later after the immediate swelling subsides. Sometimes it's not optimal to inject all the filler during 1 session.I know that all these other surgeons will diagnose you via skype and plan your surgery before physically seeing you in 3 dimensions and physically feeling your flesh. The first time they physically see you are right before surgery. That’s crazy and should be a red flag. That’s why Dr. Steinsapir will only consult with you in person. I share this because I know a lot of people come to see him from great distances. I wrestled with the travel, timeframe, only being able to have an in-person consult, not knowing if I’d be a candidate for treatment at the time of consult, etc. It's worth it to get yourself out here no matter what and possibly book a stay for longer than you may end up needing depending upon your individual circumstances and timeframe. Do yourself a favor – book the appointment and get in the car or on a plane. Just do it. There are important reasons why he must diagnose you in person. This is your face. It’s your eyes. It's how you connect with other human beings. Eye contact is so very important. It's your life. Don’t cut corners. It's about getting the best possible outcome and while the financials and travel are obviously also important factors, these are not the primary factors that should be driving your decision. The quality of the care is first and foremost. Obviously, everyone's situation is unique and I'm just sharing my personal experience and timeline. I want to share because I know what sort of mental dilemmas I went through during this decision-making process and I hope that sharing my experience may help you in your journey.I decided to move forward with fillers at the time of consult and wasn't promised the world and realized they don't last forever. My personal decision was to try those first and if they last a decent amount of time and I like the results, then I’ll continue with having them maintained by periodically flying out here going forward. And that still gives me the option to have permanent surgical fixes if the fillers don't last as long as I would like them to or I just get to the point in the future, where I want a one-and-done permanent fix. That’s just my personal decision for my particular situation. I just had the filler done days ago so I have to see what the future holds for me. I’m not advocating for one solution over another. Point being – this is not one size fits all. You’ll be presented with the options that are best suited to your particular situation. Maybe there is only one viable option for you maybe not. In my situation, since there was more than one viable option, I was given both options and not pushed one way or the other. I’ll say it again - Everyone’s situation is unique and this is just my perspective based on my particular circumstances. The filler service he did is nothing short of amazing. I absolutely love how I look. Crazy to go from hating the mirror one day and then a few days later loving it. He just gets it. Like he was born to do this. He is so meticulous in how he looks at you, the angle he looks at you from where he directs you to focus your eyes, how he positions your chin and angle of your head, etc. He knows the exact angles to see exactly what needs to be done. I don’t know what all the technical reasons were for why he was positioning me in this way or that and from these particular angles - I just knew it's because he is an expert and his attention to these details while he was working on me, gave me tremendous confidence. He injected the filler in tiny little doses in multiple precise spots at the exact depth needed. Despite him working with scarred tissue and a damaged canvas if you will, he was still able to achieve excellent symmetry. At this point, I had complete trust. I just knew that everywhere he injected the filler was exactly where it needed to go if that’s what he decided, and that’s all I needed to know.If you feel like you have to coach your surgeon on what to do that is a huge red flag. Runaway! They are the expert and yes they should absolutely ask you what you don’t like/want improved. But once you’ve expressed your concerns, when it comes to deciding what procedure/procedures are most appropriate they should be running the show.My upper eyelid crease is way lower. It precisely follows the contour of my eyelashes. My sub-brow skin is visible and full, no longer deflated and sucked into my eye socket. My eyebrows are either a little bit higher or at least they appear that way because the sub brow skin is filled out – this is desirable and an improvement.He was able to reduce my lower scleral show and push my lower eyelids up with filler. He also injected filler on my cheekbones to make them stronger and more projected. He filled in my hollow tear troughs. These are extremely tough areas to inject and get right. You need an expert. And the internet is deceiving. Some of these publications that look like they did an objective review of “top injectors” are nothing more than a marketing tool. Everyone on some of those lists just paid to be on it, to get business. Be careful! It's not always obvious what is an advertisement and what isn’t. Cosmetic surgery is a business and when there is financial motivation there will be practitioners that are lousy at what they do, that market nonetheless, to make money. I learned the hard way.My nose had some issues that could be improved upon as well, even though it wasn't my main concern. With just filler, he was able to make my nose a good bit more symmetrical and even get the shape of my nostrils to be more symmetrical which makes the tip of my nose less droopy. He also filled in some depressions on the bridge of my nose to make it nice and straight and even on both sides. This was the icing on the cake as I was already thrilled that he was able to fix my eyelids which was my main concern. Just a testament to how skilled he is with filler in all areas of the face. His skills are off the charts!I'm literally in disbelief and I'm so happy. I keep looking in the mirror just to be certain this is real and it's not just a dream. Dr. Steinsapir really is a master in both the art and the science. As far as the “art”, he has an aesthetic eye and knows exactly where to place the filler to improve the spots that can benefit from the filler. The results are completely natural and no one would ever know I have filler. It basically just looks like I was born this way and have good genetics.As far as the “science” - fillers are highly skilled dependent. Go knock your socks off on Google and this will quickly become apparent to you if you have any doubts. Dr. Steinsapir has the experience, muscle memory, steady hand, manual dexterity, and intricate knowledge of the underlying anatomy of the face, to make his vision come to reality on your face. In my opinion, the surgeon needs to have mastery of the art and the science. If they have one but not the other you’ll probably not get desirable results. Obviously, his mastery of the art and science extends to his surgical skill set as well.He did some filler on a Monday. It's best practice not to do it in one session and potentially overfill. I came back on Wednesday to see if anything needed to be tweaked, and I requested more filler, and with his blessings, he added some more and achieved even better results. I wasn't pressured to do more and he even told me that if I requested too much he wouldn't put so much in me that it would look unnatural. He wants you to look good, not just sell you as much filler as he can shove in your face. He checks and rechecks many times as he's injecting you. Sometimes he presses on certain spots and smooths them out. As he inserts the needle you can feel how steady his hand is. It's like his arm and hand are precision machinery - the needle goes in smoothly and comes out smoothly with steady controlled and gentle but consistent force.The last 4 months have been nerve-wracking. If you're in my shoes please don't cut corners and potentially get yourself so damaged to the point that it's physically impossible for anyone to fix you. Medical science is advanced but it has its limitations.I highly recommend Dr. Steinsapir. He is worth every penny and he is worth traveling to regardless of where on the planet you are located.I wish that no one else ends up in a situation like mine but with that unfortunately not being reality, I hope that if you are in a situation like mine and you are reading this, that this may give you the inspiration to come see Dr. Steinsapir and give you hope. I know that when I was in the depths of despair that some of the reviews from other patients that had already been fixed by Dr. Steinsapir gave me hope when things seemed very dismal. So the very least I can do is pay it forward and take the time to leave this review and I really sincerely hope that someone else will get their life back because of what I’ve shared. Its so horrible going through this. I know. It was so bad that I would feel that it would be morally wrong to not share my story because that might mean the difference between someone else getting fixed or not. Typing all of this out has been extremely therapeutic for me and I hope it helps you too if you’ve made it to the end of this review. This was much longer than I intended but as I relived what I went through I felt that I needed to share all of these details. I feel that how to make the decision to come here in the first place is super important as is of course the level of service you’ll receive once you are here. There were so many steps along the way and detours and dead ends that I hit. There were many times that I almost went down the wrong road, and I wanted to touch on all of them because I know it’s a mentally and emotionally draining and drawn-out process to finally make the decision and take all the steps needed to get to Dr. Steinsapir.Please don’t lose hope. Do what you have to do to get here. Don’t be like me in the first place (go to a bad surgeon), but if this already happened DO be like me the 2nd time around and go to Dr. Steinsapir to get your life back.