March 2015 - Fante Eye & Face Centre

Treating Eyelid Trauma

Your eyelids have the vital job of protecting your eyes from injury. They are like bodyguards who have to put themselves “in the line of fire” to protect their charge. Unfortunately, this means that sometime they get injured, and that can have long-lasting effects on the function and appearance of your eyelids.

The good news is that many of these effects can be corrected surgically. If you are unhappy with the way your eyelid trauma has healed, the Fante Eye & Face Center can use eyelid surgery to restore the appearance of your eyelids.

Treating Eyelid Trauma in the Emergency Department

Most of the time, if you have a serious eyelid trauma, you will go to the emergency department for care. At the emergency room, they will evaluate and treat your injuries. For minor eyelid trauma, you may be sent home with little or no treatment. For more serious eyelid trauma, stitches may be used to close up the wound. If the trauma resulted in deep lacerations, you may have x-rays to look for damaging material left in the wound that could impair healing and lead to infections.

In addition, in the emergency department personnel will attempt to identify any damage to the muscles or tendons of the eyelid that can affect how your eyelids open and close. These will be repaired.

Lingering Impact of Eyelid Trauma

While emergency department personnel are typically competent doctors and nurses, their primary concern is usually making sure the injury is taken care of quickly and effectively from a practical standpoint.

Often, aesthetics is a lesser concern, so many people with eyelid trauma that’s treated in an emergency department may find that they have scarring, sagging of the eyelids, and other cosmetic complaints about the appearance of their eyelids after trauma.

Cosmetic eyelid surgery can address many of these concerns. Often, we can revise scars so that they are less pronounced or are better positioned to be less noticeable. We can change the shape or size of supporting tissue and muscles in the eyelid to help restore a normal appearance of your eyelids and ensure they open fully.

If you are unhappy with the appearance of your eyelids after eyelid trauma, please contact Fante Eye & Face Center in Denver to learn how it can be improved.

Blepharoplasty Recovery Time

Denver Cosmetic Surgery

When it comes to cosmetic surgery, one of the main concerns people have is how long it will take to heal. This is especially important for a surgery like blepharoplasty, which is operating on your eyelids, which you cannot conceal should you want to keep your procedure a secret.

The problem is that this time varies greatly from person to person. What we’re describing in this blog is the average blepharoplasty recovery time. You have to be prepared for it to take a little longer for you to heal (and you might be pleasantly surprised if it takes shorter!)

In general, most people can return to normal activities about 3-5 days after blepharoplasty. If bruising and swelling make you self-conscious, you will be happier if you wait 7-10 days after surgery when you can use makeup to conceal residual bruising. Most people are “back to normal” by two weeks after surgery, but healing continues and isn’t really complete until a year or more after surgery (scars can continue to improve throughout your life).

Recovery in the First Couple Days

The first couple days after blepharoplasty, your eyelids will be swollen and bruised. How much swelling and bruising depends on your individual healing response, the procedure used, and how well you follow postoperative instructions. Keeping your head elevated and icing your eyelids will help reduce swelling and bruising. Discomfort will be minor and can be controlled with acetaminophen (Tylenol). Avoid ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen (Aleve), since these can increase bleeding and bruising.

You can also speed your healing time by taking rest seriously. Prop yourself up in bed with pillows and watch TV, do social media, or read to pass the time. Let yourself doze off as much as you want, so long as you stay on your back. A comfortable recliner is great for this, too.

Watch-Dr. Fante Discusses Eyelid Surgery:

Recovery in the First Week

After the first couple days, your swelling should go down dramatically. You’ll probably be feeling a bit restless, so get up and move around (you’re never restricted to bed, it’s just best to rest), but don’t exert yourself. Your bruises will start maturing—changing color—and fading. Your incisions may still be leaking blood or clear fluid. This is normal, and isn’t a problem unless the liquid is discolored or smells foul.

After the First Week

You’ll probably feel completely healed after the first week or so, but you won’t look like it. For most people, the cuts have stopped oozing, and that’s when you can apply concealing makeup (after you get the go-ahead from your surgeon).

The incisions will definitely be visible at this point, but they will continue to minimize with time. By two weeks, most of your bruising and swelling should be gone, but for many people it takes four weeks or more for the bruising to be completely gone.

Healing continues under the surface as well. Your eyelids may feel a little stiff and don’t be surprised if it looks at this point like you won’t get the results you wanted. Results will continue to change, and results that didn’t look right after a month will look better than you dreamed by six months.

Blepharoplasty Before & After Photos:

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Interested in learning more about eyelid surgery? Call (303) 839-1616 to schedule your consultation today! Our practice serves Denver, CO & all nearby areas.

What Is Blepharoplasty

Denver Cosmetic Surgery

Blepharoplasty comes from the Greek words “blepharon,” meaning eyelid and “plastein” meaning to shape. It is surgery of the eyelid intended to change its shape or appearance. Blepharoplasty can be done for many reasons, but the most commonly requested relate to changes in appearance of the eyes related to aging.

Why Blepharoplasty Might Be Right for You

Blepharoplasty is most commonly used to address the effects of aging on the eyelids. Some of the most common reasons why people request blepharoplasty include:

Droopy, puffy eyelids
A tired appearance
Sagging skin that bunches on the eyelids
Bags under the eyes

Blepharoplasty can be used to address congenital appearance of the eyelids that a person finds unattractive, which can be malformities or ethnic traits.

How the Blepharoplasty Procedure Is Performed

In a blepharoplasty, we will remove excess skin from your upper or lower eyelid (or both). The incisions for a blepharoplasty are typically made in the natural creases of the upper eyelid, making them very hard to see. Incisions in the lower eyelid are made near the eyelash line, which similarly conceals them.

Excess fat will be removed from the upper eyelids. Fat from the lower eyelids may be removed or repositioned if you have hollows under your eyes that contribute to the appearance of dark circles or bags under the eyes. In addition to just moving fat from the eyelids, we can use dermal fillers or additional fat taken from a donor region to improve the appearance of the under-eye region.

If you don’t need any skin removed from your lower eyelids, we can even make the incisions on the inside of the eyelids.

In addition to removing skin, the muscles and other supporting tissues of the eyelids will sometimes be tightened or reshaped.

Tiny stitches are used to close the incisions.

If you think blepharoplasty in Denver might be right for you and want to learn more about the procedure, please contact the Fante Eye & Face Center in Denver

What to Know About CoolSculpting

Denver Body Contouring

CoolSculpting is a remarkable new body contouring technology that allows you to freeze away fat. It doesn’t require dieting, and doesn’t require exercise. Indeed, it gets rid of fat that hasn’t responded to dieting and exercise in the past.

But is this technology right for you? Explore some facts about the technology to learn whether it’s the right choice for you.

CoolSculpting Is Nonsurgical

In liposuction, small incisions are used to insert a thin tube to suck out fat. This invasive procedure can result in significant tissue damage as it tries to remove fat. The trauma to your body results in pain, bleeding, significant risks, and a long recovery time.

CoolSculpting is completely nonsurgical. Cooling panels are applied to the surface of your skin. There are no cuts or burns or damage to your skin, even. You can go right from your CoolSculpting appointment back to work, or go home and sit down on the couch—there’s no restrictions after the procedure.

CoolSculpting Uses Natural Processes to Eliminate Fat

If you’ve noticed the way your fat jiggles, you may have suspected the secret behind CoolSculpting: fat is weaker than other tissues. In particular, it is vulnerable to cold. CoolSculpting reduces the temperature of your body to a point that freezes and kills fat cells but leaves other cells unharmed.

Then your body conducts the cleanup, breaking down and removing the dead fat cells according to its normal processes.

CoolSculpting Is FDA Cleared

CoolSculpting uses previously-approved technologies that have been shown to be very safe. The FDA has cleared CoolSculpting for the treatment of unwanted fat, showing that it is a technology that is safe and effective.

CoolSculpting Is Not Weight Loss

Although CoolSculpting is a very effective way to get rid of fat, you can’t count on it for weight loss. It’s not going to take pounds of weight off, but the ounces of fat you lose in certain areas can make the difference.
You’ve lost the weight, already, but you’re still left with unsightly bulges in some areas. Now get rid of those bulges and don’t worry about your weight.

CoolSculpting Is Permanent

One thing you have to know about fat: we don’t get new fat cells when we gain weight. Our body has all the fat cells it’s going to have. Instead, when we gain weight our fat cells get bigger, like balloons.
When you get rid of fat cells, they’re gone forever. The treated areas will show the results forever, and if you maintain your weight, you won’t see the fat deposits come back.

CoolSculpting Is Versatile

CoolSculpting can be used on any fat deposit you have that can be cooled using the machine. Places people often request treatment on include the stomach, love handles or muffin top, back fat, thighs, and arms.

Want to learn what CoolSculpting in Denver can do for you, please contact the Fante Eye & Face Center today for a consultation. We can answer any other questions you may have so you can make an informed decision about CoolSculpting.