This is just my personal experience but when I go to a surgeon, they always suggest surgery. Makes perfect sense because that is what they know!

Did his office offer all the other less expensive non surgical options you discussed?

Aktillery, I would love to get the skin cut off under my eyes. I haven’t checked into it yet but wonder how long the down time is.

My aunt had it done a few years back and took 20 years off her face. She had always had baggy under eyes and it made a huge difference.

Also so since the surgeon doesn’t actually do the surgery, I think he was actually being more honest and not trying to oversell.

I am hoping get Botox again soon. I do it on and off and it makes a huge difference. However, I didn’t think it was FDA approved for the lower face.

If I recall, the down time was about two weeks. I had uppers and lowers done and the main bruising is from the lowers. I worked at the time and took a couple of weeks off at Christmas. The first couple of days you don't want to go anywhere, but by day 3 or 4 I went out with dark glasses and took a little walk. Two weeks after the surgery we visited my mom and MIL (I wore regular glasses) and nobody said a thing. The stitches came out on the third or fourth day and then everything started looking better very quickly.

The downtime for eye surgery is about a week for swelling and bruising and about 2 weeks for wearing makeup and full healing. Most surgeons who do this will recommend taking Arnica for bruising (it really helps, dissolved sublingual), and ensuring you are hydrated, plus if laser procedure, Benadryl for itching the first few days. No makeup because of risk of infection. They will prescribe antibiotic ointment to be used before bed and other drops to use through the day. You can go to work. I would say for sure after a week if you are comfortable with no makeup and your eyes looking a little red.

If you have a doctor in your area who does ablative CO2 laser resurfacing (not Fraxel or fractionated), that will take care of your problem and may yield better results than surgery. The results are amazing but the downtime is 10-14 days. Not many doctors do it because most patients aren't willing to go through the downtime but most, if not all, consider it to be the gold standard as far as laser is concerned.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and personal experiences! I am going to wait a bit and see how things go. I am still waiting for my botox to kick in. Hopefully soon!

For me Botox takes 7-10 days to kick in.

My last Botox took close to two weeks the last time. Each time is different but it is never immediate...at least for me. I am happy to hear you are waiting to do anything more at this time. I agree with DLM 100%.

About 6 years ago Ali Wentworth underwent the procedure to reduce/remove the bags under her eyes. They were very noticeable and distracting. She filmed it and was very frank in showing the before and after photos. You can google her name to read her comments and see the photos.

I echo the other comments about Botox taking a while to kick in. On average, it's about 7 days for me before I really notice a difference.

Have never tried, but a possible interim short-term solution: https://www.today.com/style/hemorrhoid-cream-has-weird-benefits-under-eye-area-t118719

We do blepharoplasties at work a lot!. It can be done under straight local or sedation in the operating room.

My mom had uppers done recently & it looks amazing- not “done” but well rested & refreshed. She had straight local & said she could feel when he used the bovie (electrical current to control bleeding) but wasn’t painful. Yes- swelling & bruising. Lowers can bruise more- gravity. But you can put makeup in a few days. One plastic surgeon has his patients wear steri-strips for 2 weeks!!! So, ask what & how long the dressings stay on.

I plan to have my uppers done soon. I will have it done on thurstay -be off Friday & return to work on Monday. I will take a Valium & have someone drive me.

When my BF had her face lift, she took Vitamin E (?) starting a month or so before her surgery. It was suppose to help her heal quicker. I haven't researched it, but pretty sure that's what she told me.

Every time I see the before and after pics of people who have had their eyes done I am truly amazed at the difference. It really does take at least a decade of age right off the individual, if not more.

I just went last week for a consultation. I have to come back in a week to have the peripheral vision test and then send results to my insurance company to see if they will pay. I am so ready to get this done!! I am just planning on doing upper eye lids because of the cost, etc.

Hm, still waiting for XAF5 to hit the market:

https://www.medestheticsmag.com/category/article-free-tagging/xaf5

Nosoccer, that would be fantastic!!

Yes, and also to invest in that company; however, I haven't found any updates after the initial hype :(

My question is, if this indeed does work, what then happens to the skin that has been stretched out for all these years?

When we were in Palm Springs last month, I got dragged into a salon, and a Brazilian woman put some under-eye gel on the bags under my eyes, and the bags went away completely. She used Venofye Royal Jelly Eye Beelift, and then tried to sell me a bottle of it for $300. I told her I thought that was too expensive, and so she went down to $200, which I still thought was expensive, but I had never had anything like this. The effects last for several days, and she told me to use it once a week, which I have started doing.

I was shocked to see the $700 price on line, but I think you should be able to find it cheaper. Try to find a salon that can give you a free demonstration. I think this might be the same product for $120.00 from Amazon, but it looks slightly different, and the name is different.

Lars - There is a store selling something similar at the mall in my town. Also supposedly hundreds of dollars, unless I want to buy it right now!

It's interesting to hear your experience though, that it actually lasts for several days.

I have usedPeter Thomas Roth Instant FirmX Eye and it truly is amazing to see how much it smooths the skin under my eyes. But it can leave a white film, and you can't really put any moisturizer for makeup under or over it. And of course the effect goes away as soon as you wash your face.

Well, this morning I used DDs https://www.katesomerville.com/exfoliation-products-exfolikate-how-to-exfoliate

and have to say that it noticeably ironed out the wrinkles above my outer eye brows and the frown lines between my eyes. It did nothing to my marionette lines, though :(

I didn't expect that it would diminish wrinkles, so maybe it's not my imagination.

I'll keep on using it 1 or 2/week and will report back in a month.

Lars, would you mind sharing photos of yourself before and after?

You are the first person I "know" who has used a product that actually works.

How much do you need to apply and how long does he vial last?