Lower Eyelid Surgery One Year Ago and I Have These Suture Marks (train Tracks) Scars Under
my Eye?
Is there any procedure or cream I can use to get rid of these.
I was thinking a chemical peel, but I was told that it is only very superficial.
I was also told laser, but I'm afraid it would retract my eyes even more from the tightening.
I also have ectropion and retraction too.
What would help these scars and what should I stay away from?
Also what caused this to happen?
Thank You.
Thank you for your question!
You submitted a photo where you clearly demonstrate the suture marks from under your eyelid and
being your primary concern and at the end of your question, you also mentioned you have
eyelid ectropion and retraction.
So I'm going to first address the question about the suture marks.
Those suture marks are the result of having lower eyelid blepharoplasty doe from the outside
where an incision was made and skin was overlapped.
Whether there was an overlap or a skin pinch is probably irrelevant at this point, just
stitches were made and you developed these marks.
Now when someone has adequate skin, my approach typically would be to excise the skin that
has the marks or at least much of it as possible.
And now you can sometimes improve this area with laser but because the skin is so thin,
that's a very tricky thing to consider.
Given that you also have retraction and ectropion, in my practice, I deal with eyelid ectropion
a lot from people who come from all over the world who have this problem after cosmetic
eyelid surgery.
Very often, they have one, two or more revisions before we see them.
Now you're dealing with an issue where there are multiple problems in terms of tissue availability.
That means if your eyelid is rotated out, there can be a skin shortage so you need more
skin.
If it is retracted, then the middle layer of the skin needs some vertical height.
So you might need much more than just dealing with these suture marks.
But this dependent on your perception of your cosmetic outcome as well as how aggressively
you want to deal with the functional aspect.
You know, in ophthalmology, having eyelids that function well is critical for eye health.
We know this.
So it's surprising to me that you are not as concerned of at least you didn't mention
you question about symptoms related to tearing or dry eye.
I think that your concern about the mark is of course important but I think in the big
picture, the position of your eyelid in relation to the health of your eye is a more significant
thing that needs to be addressed.
So my suggestion is to consider a strategy to help address the eyelid retraction and
ectropion.
So I would recommend visiting, probably, the most qualified is an oculofacial plastic surgeon
with a lot of experience in this area particularly in the cosmetic area.
There are a lot who focus more on cosmetic and some focus more on general medical issues
and I think, from experience, my practice being 99.9% cosmetic, I'm able to offer a
different perspective based on experience.
So I would suggest that you find an oculofacial plastic surgeon who you're comfortable with
and discuss this matter and what you'd like to do and then make your decision based on
the options available.
So I hope that was helpful and thank you for your question.