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Have you had plastic surgery to help improve vision?

Posted by Teresa, Volunteer Mentor @hopeful33250, Nov 9, 2019

Let's talk about vision problems that are corrected by plastic surgery. If you have had plastic surgery to help with your peripheral vision (or other visual problems) I would like to hear from you. I would be most interested in hearing the type of procedure you had, the recovery time and how you dealt with bruising. Did you use cold packs or other products like Arnicare? Were you satisfied with the improvement in your vision?

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burksgrl | @burksgrl | Apr 19 11:35am

Teresa did you get any replies to this post ? I am also interested and posted about it but no replies. Thank you
@
burksgrl

REPLY
cmcg | @cmcg | Apr 20 6:51am
In reply to @contentandwell "@hopeful33250 I had eyelid surgery, blepharoplasty, in the spring. My ophthalmologist had suggested it last year..." + (show)
@contentandwell

@hopeful33250
I had eyelid surgery, blepharoplasty, in the spring. My ophthalmologist had suggested it last year but I didn't think it was bad enough to bother with, but somehow, between last Christmas and April, my eyelids seemed to get much worse. I say that time frame because there are pictures of me at Christmas where my eyelids don't look that bad but by spring they were totally covering my eyelashes.

My ophthalmologist, who is one of the few local doctors whom I consider to be excellent, used to have a doctor come up from Lahey Clinic to do his patients but she was discontinuing this just when I needed it so I went to Lahey in MA to her. She is excellent. I am very happy with the results. My ophthalmologist thought for sure I would qualify. When I went to Lahey they tested my field of vision and I did qualify for it to be covered by Medicare.

The tiny stitches on my eyelid amazed me — such precision! I do still have pinkish eyelids but if I am going somewhere special I use a concealer on them. I have a friend in Seattle who had it done about three years ago and she still has pink eyelids so I think it takes a very long time for that to fade, if it ever does completely. I did use cold packs frequently, I no longer have the post-surgery instructions but I do remember it was quite often, each time for a limited number of minutes. I had some that had a gel in them that you put in a cloth sleeve. I actually had them from the days when I had migraines because the cool pack on my forehead gave a tiny bit of relief. She also gave me an ophthalmic antibiotic ointment -- erythromycin -- to use on them for the first two weeks. Erythromycin is safe around your eyes, you can even put it in your eye. I had to once when I had a corneal abrasion, back when I wore contact lenses.

I know that you are very conscious of researching your doctors, Teresa. There are some plastic surgeons who do eyelids but if you have it done I have heard and read that it is best done by an ophthalmologist who specializes in eyelid plastic surgery. I think it's called oculoplastic or something like that. I am very happy with the results, both from the vision standpoint, and from the appearance standpoint.
JK

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Who was the doctor at Lahey Clinic that did your surgery?
Thx!

REPLY
sregiani | @sregiani | Apr 20 9:45am

I had upper eyelids done about 35 years ago. At the time, I was a corporate pilot and my peripheral vision was getting worse from droopy upper eyelids. Insurance covered the procedure, anes and OR, and I was told they could do my lower eyelids, too, for just the additional cost of that procedure. Yes, I did it all.
A bag of frozen peas and arnica cream and tablets were my best friends for a few days. Funny story - we met my brother for dinner a few weeks later. He took one look at me and said I used to look like Dad, and now I looked like Mom!
Totally glad I had it done so I could continue to fly for years afterward. Cosmetic outcome was a bonus.

REPLY
mostlyjackie | @mostlyjackie | May 11 3:11am

The cosmetic difference of having both upper and lower done was not worth the money, in my opinion.

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1 reply
mostlyjackie | @mostlyjackie | May 12 7:00am
In reply to @mostlyjackie "The cosmetic difference of having both upper and lower done was not worth the money, in..." + (show)
@mostlyjackie

The cosmetic difference of having both upper and lower done was not worth the money, in my opinion.

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However, his range of vision increased, so having the upper lid done was a good idea!

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