To answer this question you have to understand what a tear trough deformity is.
In short, it’s when the skin and soft tissue are inherent to the orbital rim and you have fat herniation just above that at the same time that you have a descent of the cheek skin and soft tissue.
Essentially, you go two peaks and one valley. That valley is a tear trough and it can give you a pretty tired appearance to your eyes. The nonsurgical treatment of a tear tough is really a game of camouflage. It involves filling in the valley, so that the shadow that’s normally seen there can’t be seen anymore. The beauty of this is that it’s done in the office, there’s no anesthesia required, and the results are immediate, and there is zero downtime.
Most fillers are used to correct this deformity. The most popular fillers are from the two largest manufacturers, Allergan and Galderma. Now, it’s a particular type of each each filler, specifically designed to be thinner and more delicate for areas with thinner skin, like the eyelids and lips. For Allergan, they make a product called Juvederm Ultra XC. For Galderma, they make a product called Restylane Silk.
At some point in the future, new products might come out, names might change, but they’re all a form of hyaluronic acid, which is a connective tissue component that’s found in all of our tissues. Most often, a small amount of ice or another topical of numbing agent is applied to the lower eyelid. Then in the upright position, the filler’s injected into the tear trough and the upright position is pretty important because then you know exactly how much filler to be used and that’s it.
There might be some swelling that can last seven to ten days and there’s minimal bruising. Most patients get back to their normal life immediately. The only downside to this approach is that as opposed to surgical treatments of the tear trough deformity, this is only temporary and most fillers can last up to one year.
I hope this helps to answer some of your questions about tear troughs and how to fix them non-surgically, but if you have any other questions about tear trough deformities or eyelid surgery in general, shoot us some email an info@drundavia.com or visit our website at drundavia.com.