I am a 77-year-old woman. I would like to get a facelift but I have several serious health issues.
Posted July 20, 2010 10:51 AM
Question:
I am a 77-year-old woman. I would like to get a facelift but I have several serious health issues. What is the protocol in this situation? Are there some health concerns that would prevent me from getting my facelift? I am most concerned about receiving anesthesia at my age.
Answer:
The Foundation doctors will perform this procedure on people who are in their 70s and, in rare cases, even in their 80s. With that said, each doctor will make their own determination based on the health of each individual patient whether or not they are a safe and healthy candidate for the procedure. Based on your specific medical history, we can be far more exact as to whether or not it makes sense for you personally to proceed with a facelift procedure. In all cases, every patient does have a pre-operative blood test done to ensure everything is in order and, additionally, Dr. Epstein and the other Foundation doctors will regularly request a clearance from your general physician, cardiologist or other doctor based on the health issues and concerns you currently have. If your personal doctor, as well as our doctors, agree that it is safe to move forward we will do so. In some cases it is not possible but in the majority it is.
Posted by Jon Hoffenberg, Executive Vice President FHRPS
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I am a 77-year-old woman. I would like to get a facelift but I have several serious health issues.
The upper portion of my face is giving up to gravity
Posted July 19, 2010 5:37 PM
Question:
The upper portion of my face is giving up to gravity and making me look extra tired and older than I am. Would either a brow lift or eyelid surgery fix the sagging or should I have both procedures done at the same time?
Answer:
Certainly a brow lift and eyelid surgery would increase the youthfulness of the upper part of the face. Whether you need one or the other is something we would have to see on examination. If brow ptosis or wrinkling of the forehead is a significant problem, then certainly a brow lift would be an excellent procedure. If you have eyelid skin in excess and lateral hooding caused by this excess skin in the upper eyelids, a blepharoplasty would be an excellent procedure. Both surgeries can be done at the same time and your overall look would be excellent.
Posted by Richard Galitz, MD, FACS
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I want to improve my eyesight as well as my eye appearance
Posted July 18, 2010 11:10 AM
Question:
I want to improve my eyesight as well as my eye appearance. Should I have Lasik prior to or after my blepharoplasty?
Answer:
Generally speaking, I recommend that people have any medical type procedures before they have cosmetic procedures to rule out any secondary complications from the cosmetic work. So I would tell you to go ahead and get the Lasik surgery and then within a month or two after, if that is successful, go ahead and have your blepharoplasty.
Posted by Richard Galitz, MD, FACS
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My eyelids are lacking rather than the usual problem of too much skin and tissue
Posted July 17, 2010 5:24 PM
Question:
My eyelids are lacking rather than the usual problem of too much skin and tissue. Can my eyelids be filled out rather than reduced during a blepharoplasty?
Answer:
No. A standard blepharoplasty removes skin and/or fat and as a rule gives you less upper eyelid skin to work with after surgery than before surgery. If you are lacking in skin or have what is called lagophthalmos, I would certainly consider doing nothing with your eyes that would add to the problem such as a blepharoplasty. Correction of this problem unfortunately is not easy and usually involves skin grafts and visible scars. My recommendation is at this time that you do not do a blepharoplasty.
Posted by Richard Galitz, MD, FACS
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My eyes are constantly itchy and red from lifelong allergies
Posted July 16, 2010 1:07 PM
Question:
My eyes are constantly itchy and red from lifelong allergies. Could my extremely dry eyes exclude me as a candidate for blepharoplasty?
Answer:
You absolutely would need an ophthalmologic consultation and an okay from an opthamologist before you could have a blepharoplasty. Blepharoplasty tends to cause problems with dry eyes post operatively and unless you are on the proper medication and have been evaluated properly, you could have an exacerbation of the dry eye problem.
Posted by Richard Galitz, MD, FACS
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As an Asian American my upper eyelids are puffy and impede my vision
Posted July 15, 2010 10:21 AM
Question:
As an Asian American my upper eyelids are puffy and impede my vision. Will a blepharoplasty create more space while maintaining my ethnic appearance?
Answer:
An Asian American blepharoplasty takes a certain amount of experience due to the fact that it is important to remove the necessary skin and increase the patient's vision while at the same time maintaining the ethnic appearance. If you have experience with this particular procedure you certainly can do what you would like, which is create a less puffy upper eyelid and still maintain an Asian looking appearance to the eyelid.
Posted by Richard Galitz, MD, FACS
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If ear cartilage is used for a revision rhinoplasty procedure
Posted July 13, 2010 6:03 PM in Rhinoplasty
Question:
If ear cartilage is used for a revision rhinoplasty procedure, is the ear effected in any way? Where is the cartilage taken from and is it noticeable?
Answer:
If ear cartilage is used for revision rhinoplasty, it is taken from areas in the concha bowl that should have no effect on the appearance of the ear. If the grafts are taken well and appropriately, whether it is one ear or both ears, you should not be able to see afterward that anything was done to the ear. And the ear cartilage is an excellent cartilage for work over the tip of the nose.
Posted by Richard Galitz, MD, FACS
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I am 48 and am looking to improve the appearance of my neck
Posted July 13, 2010 10:17 AM
Question:
I am 48 and am looking to improve the appearance of my neck. How do you know if neck liposuction or neck lift is the right procedure for you? I love the idea of a less invasive procedure but I really just want to get the best results.
Answer:
At 48 years old, there is most likely enough skin and the skin elasticity has been lost to the point that if you do any suctioning you also have to pull the skin back a little bit or it will just hang loosely. You can do a relatively non-invasive procedure which involves suctioning underneath the neck and a post-auricular neck lift, meaning just elevating the skin from behind the ear, which can provide an absolutely wonderful result. This is something that should be discussed personally and by taking a very close look at your specific problem, but I would usually say that at 48 years old you would need to have some degree of post auricular neck lift besides the suctioning alone. Both of these things could be done even under local anesthesia or with mild IV sedation.
Posted by Richard Galitz, MD, FACS
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