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WELCOME

Please feel free to schedule an appointment to discuss any questions you may have. Or come to one of our local informational events in the Santa Barbara area to get to know us!

Surgical Procedures: The ARTISTIC EYE difference

Oculoplastic surgeons are super-specialists in fine cosmetic surgery around the eyes: this includes aesthetic procedures of the forehead, brows, upper cheeks and eyelids. We also perform functional and reconstructive surgeries after cancer or trauma of these areas; as well as addressing Eye socket and tear drain problems. Because Oculoplastic specialists are eye specialists; all the work we do is carefully calibrated to improve, rather than worsen, eye funciton. As we don't offer body surgery, or even nose, chin or full face lifts, we are able to perform hundreds of eyelid and brow procedures in training and hone deep skills in this peri-orbital area 

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Upper Blepharoplasty

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Although Dermatologists, general Plastic surgeons, and ENT all perform eyelid lifts (blepharoplasties), Oculoplastic surgeons super-specialize in this area. This means we understand the anatomy with incredible detail; We carefully measure each millimeter to be excised and remove only the top layer of skin, leaving the important muscle (orbicularis) intact--and able to tightly close the eyelid. Other surgeons often damage or remove the orbicularis, leading to blinking problems later in life. We don't believe in radically transforming someone's appearance, but instead in restoring their natural, youthful anatomy. With upper blepharoplasty, this means creating an eyelid crease in precisely the correct location for their anatomy: not too high, nor too low.

Lower Blepharoplasty

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Lower blepharoplasty addresses the lower eyelid bags with a full understanding of their cause. Lower eyelid bags are caused by a 3 step aging process that must be reversed to restore the natural, youthful anatomy. 1. bulging of the lower eye socket fat. 2 drooping and sagging of the lower eyelid skin. 3. dropping of the cheek, leaving a visible hollow between the eye socket and cheek. With a lower blepharoplasty surgery, we address all 3 components of lower eyelid aging. First, a small incision is made in the inside of the lower eyelid and a careful, gentle dissection method used to identify the bulging lower eye fat. These eyelid fat bags are artistically sculpted with the aim of leaving a natural, smooth, lower eyelid contour (and not causing deep under-eye hollows). In some cases, this fat is preserved and repositioned to fill in the existing hollow solving problem #3. In the second step, the skin of the lower eyelid is pinched and only the excess skin is carefully removed, leaving the lower eyelid muscle intact. The wound is sewn right under the eyelashes, and with healing, quickly becomes invisible. Finally, fat transfer, or fillers can be used to fill the remaining under eye hollows, if necessary.

Brow lift

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With aging, the eyebrow and forehead suffer the effects of gravity and can fall, pushing down on the eyelid and leading to a sad or tired appearance. To lift up the eyebrow, we have several tools in our toolset. For men with especially heavy brows and thick bushy eyebrow hair, the direct brow lift--where a small incision is made directly above the eyebrow hair and skin removed--is often the best solution. Although a small visible scar is present, most patients hardly notice or mind after the scar fully recovers. If the goal is a more subtle/hidden scar, usually in a female client,  a pre-trichial (in front of the hair) incision can be made immediately in the hairline. The forehead skin and tissue is then lifted, using long instruments and fine technique to not injury the forehead nerves and vessels. A small crescent of tissue is then removed at the hairline of the scalp and the wound closed with staples and hidden sutures. Finally, to completely create a scarless result, the incisions can be made in the scalp and the work to the lift the brow performed using a fiber optic camera (endoscope) . This "endoscopic brow lift" requires general anestheisa as  the brow must be anchored to the skull using anchors. Whichever surgical option best fits the patient's needs; the goals of this fine restorative work are to look natural and not attract attention or look "done".

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