The Non-surgical Blepharoplasty - A Real Option For Dark Circles And Tired Eyes

The eyes that looked tired, have been historically difficult to treat. The reason is that the appearance of tired eyes due to various factors, some respond to treatment and others do not. In general, there are four components that make up the appearance of puffy eyes and tired looking.

1. Dark pigmentation of the skin under the eyes. Susceptibility to this is usually genetic. Some people get it early and some later. The pigment is also influenced by ethnicity. The Indians, for example, are much more likely to have dark pigmentation of their eyes.

Treatment options: There is not much you can do with dark pigmentation. Bleaching creams with hydroquinone or kojic acid sometimes helps.

The second fine lines and wrinkles around the upper and lower eyelids - "Crépey" skin. This comes to most people with age. Of course, there is some genetic variation as to when and how severe the wrinkles are. These wrinkles are caused by loss of elasticity and subcutaneous fat that comes with age. The other important factor that accelerates the development of these lines is sun damage.

Treatment option: At the moment, the only answer to this question is a laser treatment. The only type of laser I've seen that actually make a difference in the wrinkles of the eyes is a fragmentary CO2 laser. Examples of lasers including Active FX and Fraxel Re: pair. Laser therapy is relatively simple and fast, but in about 7 days downtime. The results are dramatic.

3. Swelling of the skin under the eyes caused by fatty tissue that is "pooching" out. Again, it is a combination of age and genetic predisposition. This effect is caused by a weakening of the membrane that is normally kept under control the orbital fat. Adipose tissue bulges through the diaphragm and the lower eyelid skin.

Treatment option: This is usually a surgical problem. If you have a lot of swelling, a blepharoplasty fat actually helps re-investment. If, however, is only a small amount of protrusion or moderate, your doctor may use hyaluronic acid (Restylane and Juvederm) less to disguise the appearance of a bulge. If you lift a bulge under the skin with a filler such as Juvederm, filling the valley between the cheek and lower eyelid, the observer does not see the bulge.

4. "Tear trough" in the return the eye - this is a situation which is more common in my practice. Age and genetic predisposition to cause fat loss, which is a niche, "naso-jugal groove" (area under the lower eyelid before the cheek), the shadow will fall into the groove and the person's eyes appear tired. This is easily corrected with an injection of hyaluronic acid fillers. I prefer Juvederm because it is smooth and lasts for over 1.5 years in this area. This is a technically difficult procedure, and must be experienced injectors, so if you are thinking of having this procedure done, you should certainly know how many doctors have been performed.

In addition to permanently fill three times longer than all other areas, the quality of other unique to the area under the eyes is that it is virtually painless. The skin does not seem to be a lot of pain nerve connections.

5. Loose tissue of the upper eyelid above the eyelid is another element to make your eyes tired. This is just a surgical problem. Conservative surgery should be able to take off only a small amount of skin, leaving a natural look. The danger is too aggressive is that the patient has an empty appearance of their upper eyelid area. Future fat loss with age should be taken into account and the surgeon should err on the conservative side. Well if a little 'tight now the result can be a cavity, a terrible result for 15 years.

Alexander Rivkin MD is a Yale education facial cosmetic surgeon and faculty member at UCLA who has focused his practice exclusively on providing his patients with the latest non-invasive, non-ablative cosmetic treatments. Dr. Rivkin is an international authority on cosmetic non-surgical treatments. He divides his time between patient care, clinical research, training other physicians, media appearances and lectures at scientific conferences around the world. Dr. Rivkin has made his name in developing non-surgical alternatives to commonly performed cosmetic surgery. He has been featured on shows like The Today Show, Tyra Banks Show and more and in many national publications for the innovative procedures he has invented. He was the first doctor in the country of a job offer non-surgical nose, his signature method for non-invasive correction of cosmetic nasal irregularities.