The Chinese have a saying – the eyes are the windows to our soul. But as age creeps up on us, the delicate skin which frame our eyes loses its turgor and starts to sag. Before long, dark undereye circles may form and one can look tired even though you are quite well-rested!
How Our Eyes Age
Firstly, sagging skin of the eye changes the shape of the eyes a little. They can look smaller and droop. Asians with heavier eyelids are also more prone to eyelid drooping and even covering part of their field of vision – ptosis. In this case, ptosis correction with double eyelid surgery is probably the most effective option.
How do fine lines and wrinkles eventually form around the eyes? The skin is like a piece of paper – repeated creasing along the same lines when we squeeze our eye muscles eventually turn these creases into permanent wrinkles. While you can’t quite put a limit on the cumulative amount of time squeezing your eye muscles because this is part of your normal expression, you can delay the formation of wrinkles around the eyes by doing some Botox microinjections to reduce the extent of squeezing and minimize the extent of skin folding.
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Breathe Life Back To Listless Panes
Once fine lines and wrinkles develop, it is not a death sentence! There are undereye skin tightening remedies you can do at home such as creams and gentle eye massages – undereye exercises.
But if you prefer safe bets like me, go for science. Undereye treatments at the doctor’s clinic is probably the surest bet.
1. Thermage Eyes
Heard of radiofrequency skin tightening for the face? Thermage has an eye tip which can be done on the eyelids. Heating up the deep skin without disturbing the topmost layer, a productive healing response is stimulated and the skin produces new and better collagen over the next 3 to 6 months. While it may not revive very droopy eyelids, Thermage eyes is great at firming up the skin and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles – without downtime. This treatment can be done every 9 to 12 months and is a favourite for busy people who find it difficult to follow up with frequent “eye-cials” or laser treatments.
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2. SmartX Lite Eyes
Not many ablative lasers can be used on the eyelids, but we found a really good one! SW1 Clinic’s SmartX Lite Eye treatment uses the DEKA Smartxide carbon dioxide fractional (pixilated) laser to eliminate fine lines and wrinkles. If you’ve tried CO2 lasers before, you would likely have experienced some pain during the treatment, redness and swelling initially, and little scabs during the healing period. The Smartxide laser is different because it allows the doctor to customize each treatment so that it is more comfortable and safe for patients. It’s intelligent microablative “dot therapy”ensures minimum heat, which is especially important for treatment around the eyes, optimizing results while ensuring comfort during the treatment.
We’ve been told to expect a mild upper eyelid lifting effect as early as after the first treatment! This treatment is incorporated into one of the six sessions of SW1 Clinic’s highly popular Miracle Eye Reviver Program.
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3. Neogen Plasma Eyelift
So having understood what Thermage Eyes did, and then the SmartX Lite laser for eyelid rejuvenation, we got a little lost initially with the Neogen Plasma Eyelift. Turns out, this is the next big thing in skin rejuvenation! Using cutting edge nitrogen plasma technology, the skin is heated without disturbing the topmost layer of the skin, and results in a physiological healing response which firms and thickens the skin over time. So it is like Thermage Eyes, except it uses plasma energy, may have a bit of downtime, and requires a few sessions for the best results (like SmartX Lite Eyes), although a good treatment will see some skin tightening and lifting effect of the eyelids within 2 to 3 weeks of the first treatment!
As with SmartX Lite Eyes, expect a little redness and swelling immediately, which tapers to a very light pink after 12 to 24 hours (for a moderate setting).
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By Megan Thomas