Plastically Prettified: Part II- Cosmetic Surgery; Eyelids

Doe-eyed Girl

Bigger eyes have always been a preference of many girls, even for some guys. Even when there was a time where single eyelids were referred to as being cute, years later everyone just continued digging the doe/big-eye look.
                   

                                             
For me, of course I wanted to look beautiful and have nice large eyes that could speak but I wasn't the blessed doe-eyed girl. No doubt I have always received compliments for my eyes, I had eyes that were only beautiful after I curled my lashes and got them coated with jet black mascara. Like others, I have always secretly admired girls with nice features; soft skin, silky hair, slim figure (okay basically the "perfect prototype") but of course admiration just stays there and I have never really thought of getting my eyelids cut up even though my Mom had always told me about procedures that could give more definition to my eyes. She always joked about how ugly I looked because I didn't inherit her sharp Taiwanese aborigines features and used to ask me to get epicanthoplasty done so my eyes would not look so far apart (Idiotic right, lol). It didn't bother me much because I looked perfectly fine after dolling up. Guess the whole idea of plastic surgery only popped up after it started becoming a big hit among young girls and the working adults, and especially after seeing my girlfriend getting some "enhancements" done. I also figured out if I had defined features, I could spend less time putting on make up (I'm just too lazy..blah~).

The Day I got Stitched

It was a random day where I accompanied my Mom to get her facial done at a beauty and aesthetics clinic down at Xi Men Ding district (Taiwan). I didn't know that the place also does plastic surgery procedures till I got there.

(Clinic's homepage)

                                                 

(The night before surgery at Shilin market, so that's how I looked before any surgery)

So while my Mom was getting her facial done, I kay-po-ed (aka being a busybody) and asked the nurses for details of eyelid surgeries. So she gave me the prices for blepharoplasty (aka double eyelid surgery) (invasive method aka the traditional way using knife to cut and stitch back to create a fold), non-invasive blepharoplasty (non-invasive "stitching" method), and also the price for epicanthoplasty (aka cutting of inner corner of eyelids to create almond-shaped eyes). I pulled out my iPhone and started doing a currency exchange calculation and jiang jiang, the procedures are so affordable I could do it immediately! I got so excited I asked my Mom for a loan (didn't have cash on me), spoke to the Doctor, signed the PS agreement, got dressed and sterilised, and laid on the operation bed within half an hour. Oh yea FYI, I paid for the non-invasive double eyelid and epicanthoplasty surgery.



What Happened On The Operating Bed

How does it work? After speaking to the Doctor about the details and explanations of the nature of procedures I was getting, I was asked to change into a hospital gown, sent to a room to get my face washed, got pictures of my "before" face taken, then wait in the operating theatre while the Doctor's assistant and nurse got my face sterilised and tucked in properly. The Doctor comes into the theatre, puts his gloves on and starts his work.

First he made markings on my eyelids until he is satisfied with the accuracy he drawn on my lids, then he injects local anesthetic into the area to be stitched and started stitching like you would to your dress (lol). Overall, there was no pain during the surgery though really nerve wracking because I was completely awake and could feel the sensations of the movements made. But the Doctor's
assistant was really nice, she tried to distract me by chatting and that did helped me feel relaxed. I guess the only thing that hurt a little was the anesthetic injections, and that was about it.



The Down Time

For most people who went thru blepharoplasty, up to 50% of the swelling should subside after a week, while the remaining swelling may take an average of 3 months to go down and look natural. Non-invasive blepharoplasty takes the same time for the initial swelling to go down (a week), and up to a month or two for the wound to heal completely. I went back to work with glasses around 3-4 days after my surgery and had my fringe down front to cover up a little, no one noticed it (haha). My lids took about a month and a half for the swelling to go down completely.

                                               

(No filter, no editing. 2 days post-op, bought this fake glasses to cover up so I could go back to work w/o looking strange)

Into a day post-op, I began to suspect that the Doctor didn't do my epicanthoplasty procedure as there were no stitches found on the inner corner of my eyelids. I got my Mom to call the clinic up and asked. Turns out was the Doctor didn't know I paid for 2 procedures so he had only done the non-invasive blepharoplasty (zzz), and they offered me to head back to the clinic after my recovery to get my epicanthoplasty done (zzzzzzz)(*faints*).

                                     

(As you can see, there's no wound found on inner corners of my eyelids, where epicanthoplasty should have. See next pic for illustration) (Oh yea, I know it looks a little gross here, but the deeps line you see on my upper lids are not cut up..they're just swollen from the stitching, so there's totally no blood and cuts. No worries~)

(Epicanthoplasty illustration taken from http://www.lasikdr.co.kr/cosmetic/cos_sub03.php)

PS: Lesson learnt; please communicate clearly before the surgery!



Post-Op Care

Post-Op care is simple but very important for healing and not leave scars:
- Keep the wounds clean and apply the creams given.
- Do not tug or rub wounds (obvious one).
- DO NOT SMOKE ! (I'm serious, it could leave scars or gets your wounds infected)
- No seafood and alcohol. And no dark colouring foods (eg. dark soy sauce).
- It's not a must but I feel eating lots of fruits (eg. citrus fruits for VitC and berries for antioxidants) and Omega-3 fatty acids (eg. salmon, tuna, walnuts) helps in getting a speedy & easy recovery. (See mybestplasticsurgeon.com/nutrition_plastic_surgery.htm or google for more info on what foods to have during plastic surgery recovery)

Bottom Line

1. What is it you want to change- know what you want and read up/do research on the procedures.

2. How the surgery would affect me- read up on the risks and the down times of the procedures. How the down times would affect your work or lifestyle, whether you are ready to make the short term sacrifices. 

3. Ask for friends/ experienced people for advices and referrals. Do thorough research on preferred clinic. 

To be honest, plastic surgery is nothing scary. It looks horrific in videos because all you see is knife, flesh and blood. But in reality, you're just asleep and the next thing you know you wake up with a beautiful face. I'm not supporting everything superficial, but there's nothing wrong wanting to look better by enhancing your features. The bottom line is not to get obsessed with it and learn to be kind. A kind person is beautiful in all ways. Good luck!

More Pics

               

(Before surgery with my Mom in Taipei)

(One month post-op, taken when she visited Singapore)
(One last thing to note, eyelid stitching are suitable for people who already has double eyelids but not obviously shown as its a very minor procedure. As you can see my lids look perfectly natural after the op, not like those very thick double eyelids some achieve after blepharoplasty). Those who have single eyelids or droopy double eyelids are mostly recommended to go for the traditional blepharoplasty surgery )

Stay tuned for Plastically Prettified: Part III- Epicanthoplasty