Thank you for the question. You’ve submitted 2 photos and you are asking why there is a
difference between the shape of your eyes and your eyebrow from comparing one side to
other side of your face and you are looking for solution other than surgery.
Well, I can certainly assist you with this question. I’m a board certified cosmetic
surgeon and fellowship trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon practicing
in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years. I specialize in cosmetic surgery of the eyelids
as well as the areas around the eyes. So certainly your situation is one that we come across
a lot.
And the reality of the underlying issue has to do with structure of the bones and basically
the bone structure of your skull on one side is a little bit smaller than the other side
and this is more common than it is uncommon. In other words, people like to believe that
symmetry is a norm but the reality is that they are actually all asymmetric. One side
is always a little bit different than the other. It comes more accentuated as we get
older and as we get older, people and I am not necessarily saying this applies to you
but as we get older, there is a loss of volume and bone muscle, fat and soft tissue.And patients
will often comment to me that they are frustrated that one eyebrow is lower than the other and
that one nasolabial fold is deeper than the other and a little bit of education to understand
that the bone structure is the way it is than the soft tissue, the muscle, the fat, the
skin lays over the bones in a way that they create an appearance like yours. So if you
are ever to do a CT scan you might be able to see that where the shapes of the eye socket
is a little bit smaller and it might be a little more back.
The bottom-line with these types of situation is there are limited surgical options because
it really requires considering the amount of surgery and probably not enough to make
enough difference to justify that approach. In our practice, we have routinely, for people
with facial aging, approach it in a way essentially augmenting or enhancing the side that is a
little bit weaker such as adding volume in the cheek area. We use a method where we are
actually placing the fillers at the deeper level of the structure of the face and on
top of the bone or between the bone and the muscle. And by doing that, we create the illusion
of improving symmetry by adding volume on the area like the cheek bone.
Now the other approach is to consider the artistic application of the drug like Botox™.
For example, when somebody’s eyebrow is higher on one side compared to the other,
well there maybe some value in either trying to lift the eyebrow a little bit using Botox™
brow lift method or to relax the eyebrow on the other side using Botox™. So these are
basically non-surgical options but in a situation like yours, I am not sure that there will
be of significant benefit for you. I think that with the limitations of a photo and without
a physical exam and being able to have you move your eyes and eyebrows up and down, the
chance to kind of see if it is feasible becomes somewhat limited. For your own understanding,
after submitting this question, understand that it is really bone structure. It is the
natural structure of your face and so chasing symmetry will be of limited success possibly
in the future. Try something that safe and no- surgical may be a way to have help you
feel a little bit more symmetric in your appearance.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question!