New Procedure for Lightening Dark Eyelid Circles with Your Fat
Finally, a Solution for Raccoon Eyes!
There is now a solution for dark pigmentation of eyelids. Dr. Sydney Coleman at TriBeCa Plastic Surgery in New York City has developed a new method for grafting fat which not only smoothes eyelids but also lightens dark circles.
The new technique involves placement of a very thin layer of stem-cell rich concentrated autologous fat (your own fat harvested from a donor site in your abdomen, thigh or lovehandle). As the skin and underlying tissue heal after grafting, the skin color, thickness, tone and quality change dramatically, as can be seen in these before and after photos.
Patient had dark circles around her eyes before (left); After one application of specially processed fat grafts her pigmentation appears normal. Please note the lightening of not only the lower eyelid, but also the upper eyelid. Click on photos for larger images.
Before (left above and below) and after (right) one treatment of upper and lower eyelids with a newly developed approach to fat grafting. Note lightening of darkly pigmented skin around eyes. The upper photographs were taken with a standard flash; the lower comparison was taken using a ring flash.
Dark eyelid pigmentation is one of the most common cosmetic problems for women and men, and one for which there has been little help. There are a plethora of creams on the market which claim to improve dark circles, but with little proven relief. Darker-skinned individuals are particularly prone to the problem of very darkly pigmented skin not only under the eye, but also around the entire eye, causing them to appear perpetually sleep-deprived.
Dr. Coleman’s procedure is usually done under light, “twilight-“ type anesthesia, and takes about an hour. He places the concentrated fat with special tiny instruments through puncture sites through the skin. There is bruising and swelling afterwards, which can usually be hidden by sunglasses. The bruising can last for three weeks or more, and the change in skin color may take a few months to evolve. Patients feel the wait is worth the effort, and are thrilled with the results.
Dr. Coleman warns that this procedure is not for everyone or for every type of darkness around the eyes. Please call TriBeCa Plastic Surgery at +1 212 571 5200 for more information.
.Written by the office staff at TriBeCa Plastic Surgery
Read about Dr. Coleman’s development of these special procedures in Cosmetic Surgery Times.
For more information please refer to earlier posts concerning eyelids and rejuvenation:
Dr. Sydney Coleman presents treatment of radiation injury
Sydney Coleman of New York City Presents Studies which Validate the use of Fat Grafting to Reverse Radiation Damage
At the annual meeting of the European Association of Plastic Surgeons this year, Sydney Coleman presented cutting edge studies which verified in animal models the healing effect of structural fat grafts on skin that had been exposed to therapeutic radiation. For over a decade, Dr. Coleman has been treating patients with damaged tissue due to radiation injury. Not only has he witnessed the survival of the fat grafts, but also he has noted a significant improvement in the quality of skin in almost every patient.
The research was performed in the laboratories at NYU Medical Center. Dr. Coleman reports, “Our research verifies my observations over the last ten or more years that fat does not just survive when placed into irradiated tissues, but it reverses the radiation damage in almost every case.”
In the NYU study, mice were exposed to enough radiation to cause hair loss (alopecia) and skin damage over a four-week period. At four weeks, fat grafts that Dr. Coleman personally processed using the “Coleman technique” were transplanted under the radiation damaged skin. Other mice were treated similarly using normal saline (saltwater). In the mice treated with fat grafts, first the blood supply increased and then the hair grew back, the scarring reversed and the skin softened. In the mice treated with normal saline, the hair loss and scarring progressed and the mice never healed.”
Dr. Coleman further comments, “these findings verify that this type of fat grafting alleviates radiation damage to skin and underlying tissues by improving the blood supply and softening scarring.” This process is probably due at least in part to stem cells and hormones present in structural fat grafts. “The best way to think of these primitive cells present in fat grafts is as ‘repair cells’ that actively maintain your body by repairing damage as it occurs daily.” (If you scratch your skin, or break a bone, et cetera). “When placed into an area of subacute damage such as a radiation injury, the ‘repair cells’ and hormones heal the tissues. This is truly an example of using a person’s own body to heal themselves…regenerative medicine.”
Surgeons are hesitant to operate on body areas which have been treated with radiation because they heal poorly or not at all after a surgical procedure. Recent evidence points to the healing of radiation injury and even improvement in the appearance of aging skin by fat grafting to an area. The healing most likely takes place by bringing in stem cells (or repair cells) which build new blood vessels and capillaries inthe irradiated skin, muscle and bone.
Dr. Coleman and several plastic surgeons in Europe, have been using his fat grafting technique to cure radiation damage in many breast cancer patients. An extraordinary reconstruction of a jaw deformity from therapeutic radiation was mentioned in this blog last year. Click here to read the posting. Dr. Coleman and other plastic surgeons in Europe have had success in reversing alopecia (hair loss) and other scalp damage from therapeutic radiation.
Dr. Coleman published his experiences with the treatment of therapeutic radiation damage first in 2006 in the Journal of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery.
© Coleman 2010
Written by the office staff at TriBeCa Plastic Surgery
More examples of reconstruction using Dr. Coleman’s specific technique can be found at www.lipostructure.com.
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