New Techniques To Rejuvenate Your Eyes

Every now and then, a patient turns poet while consulting with me. It’s invariably to recite that old adage about the eyes being the window to the soul, followed by the puzzled complaint that “my eyes don’t look the same anymore.”

Although you may feel that your eyes have become smaller and differently-shaped, it’s actually not the windows (your eyes) that have changed, but the area of your face that frames them — known medically as the periorbital region. This is due to three cardinal aspects of the aging process - volume loss, loss of skin elasticity, and muscle hyperactivity – which cause you to develop under-eye bags and hollows, crow’s feet and sagging of your eyelids and eyebrows.

Aging around the eyes is insidious… and it’s also counter-intuitive. If you’ve noticed bags under your eyes, it might seem obvious to you that the solution would be to remove those bags surgically with a blepharoplasty. However, this can actually worsen the situation, as can pulling sinking eyebrows and eyelids upwards and outwards with a face lift, by exacerbating the effects of volume loss. The resultant flattened cheeks and hollows under your eyes actually make you look “done”, rather than younger. Another issue is that Botox treatment plays a pivotal role in rejuvenating the eyes, yet some patients fear that Botox will leave them with a “frozen face” or cause other problems.  In fact, Botox treatment for wrinkles has a long track record of safety and gives completely natural results when treatment is performed by an expert (you can find an expert near you by visiting www.botoxcosmetic.com, an informational web site set up by Allergan, the company that manufactures Botox).

Your eyes are such a focal point of your face that restoring them to magnificence makes a tremendous improvement to your overall appearance. Today’s minimally invasive techniques are suitable for anyone whose eyes need a quick pick-me-up. If you have very droopy eyelids, you may also require surgery, but volume replacement with fillers, muscle relaxation with Botox and new laser treatments are still a vital part of your treatment plan, to give you the most natural-looking and long lasting results.

The filling of bags and hollows under your eyes is best done by gentle injection of a filler such as Restylane or Juvederm. These fillers contain hyaluronic acid, the sugar-based substance that is naturally present in your skin and is lost as you age. With expert technique and a little numbing cream, you will barely feel the injections and usually have only a little swelling or pinpoint bruising for about a week after treatment. 

This can be covered with make-up (I apply Colorescience medical grade mineral make-up to my patients after treatment, so that they can return to regular activities immediately). Expert technique gives smooth results and also stimulates your skin to produce its own collagen, which makes your results last longer – for some of my patients, as long as eighteen months or more. It’s actually an advantage that  Restylane and Juvederm treatments are not permanent, as they can be adjusted with time to match your facial contours as you continue to age.