Pack Your Bags, Travel Back in Time
Time travel. It's fascinated the human mind for centuries, but even today it remains firmly rooted in science fiction. Or does it? As many women and men across the country already know, eyelid surgery can be an excellent way to pack up those under-eye bags and head back in time to reveal a younger you.
It's no secret that the skin around the eye is delicate and easily shows signs of age, including sagging, wrinkling, and puffiness. And if you are tired or stressed, the eyes are likely the first place it will show. How many people are getting more sleep these days? How many are feeling less stressed? The fact of the matter is that as we age and our lives become busier and busier, eyelid surgery can become an important part of any person's beauty plan.
Who's Having It?
Nationwide, women have about 85% of the eyelid surgeries performed, and Long Island plastic surgeon Dr. James Romanelli sees a similar patient mix at his practice. Women often resort to makeup to cover dark areas and create a brighter eye appearance, but sooner or later many women realize that makeup can only do so much. This is particularly true for women who have a significant amount of upper eyelid sagging, which not only hides the eye but also makes it difficult to apply eye shadow. Hooding of the upper lid can be corrected through removal of excess skin and tissue. And below the eye, the skin can be tightened to reduce the bags that make a woman look tired and worn out.
Eyelid surgery is also one of the most popular procedures for men, with almost 35,000 men across the U.S. choosing the procedure last year. For many men, this surgery is all about looking good for their age. Often, men do not take good care of their skin on a regular basis, which can cause premature signs of aging in the sensitive skin around the eye.
What Can Eyelid Surgery Improve?
Some patients think that eyelid surgery is only for the upper eyelid, but in fact the skin below the eye can be rejuvenated with this procedure as well. Through a series of very small incisions, Dr. Romanelli can remove skin on the upper lids or fat deposits below the eye to create a younger, brighter eye appearance. You can see the results of eyelid lift surgery when you view photos of real patients in our online gallery.
Back in Action Quickly
Recovery following eyelid surgery takes only a few days to about a week in most cases, but to be sure that you are fully healed following surgery, Dr. Romanelli recommends scheduling your eyelid lift about 6 weeks before any major event like a wedding, anniversary, or holiday party.
Dr. Romanelli is happy to share more information about upper and lower eyelid surgery during a private consultation. You can request your free surgical consultation online and come in to his office to talk with him one-on-one. At the consult, you'll get his professional opinion on the steps you can take to enhance the appearance of your eyes.
"Mini" Face Lifts for "Maxi" Results
Despite the popular saying, many Americans are realizing that in fact bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to facial plastic surgery. Nonsurgical and minimally-invasive treatments like BOTOX® Cosmetic, injectable fillers, and laser skin rejuvenation are helping women and men look their best without having to go under the knife.
But when it comes to facial cosmetic surgery, you still have less-invasive options. Let's focus on the face lift. For more than 100 years, face lifts have been performed to tighten the jaw line and remove wrinkles on the cheeks and neck. For most of that century, the procedure had little variation in surgical technique and patient results. But now many people are benefitting from a "mini" version of this procedure that can produce some significantly satisfying results.
So what puts the "mini" in mini face lift? For starters, this procedure requires a smaller incision than the traditional face lift method. To begin a full face lift, a surgeon makes an incision that runs from the temple of the hairline, down around the ear, and out toward the nape of the neck. The mini face lift shortens this incision so that the majority of the incision is made by the front of the ear where it connects with the upper jaw. As you can probably guess, smaller incisions translate into less visible scarring, and an experienced plastic surgeon should be able to hide the incisions in the natural folds by the ear.
Another "mini" in this procedure is the recovery time. A traditional face lift procedure can require 2 full weeks of downtime and recovery, while patients can be ready to return to work following a mini face lift in 7 to 10 days. That's why some have called it a "weekend" lift - have your procedure on a Thursday or Friday and you can be ready to return to work early the next week.
Of course, the thing to keep in mind when considering a mini face lift is that you are unable to fully correct heavy excess skin of the neck, as you can with a full face and neck lift. That being said, patients are often amazed by how much correction can be achieved through such small incisions. It is an ideal procedure for women and men in their 30s to 50s who could benefit from a less-aggressive surgical option.
Request a free appointment with Dr. Romanelli to hear more about your liposuction options and view before & after photos of patients who chose liposuction. You can also call the office at (631) 424-3600 to schedule your consultation.
