Dr. Sam Lam Plastic Surgery Forum

i had restylane injected under my eyes. On the right side I woke up and it is puffed up and completly swelled looking. This is not a post side effect because I had this done awhile ago and the swelling lasted for only 2 days or so. This is something else. Today I am noticing it is getting bigger and bigger. It look like a balloon blowing up under my eye. It is getting puffier and puffier and it is actually over my eye area now. what could it be?

i have no idea. if it is tender and red, it could be an infection. if not, it could be just unrelated to the restylane. it is unlikely that you are having a late allergic response. the area should be iced to cut down the swelling and your MD should be alerted to it. if need be, just Vitrase the area down. that should solve it if it is a late allergic reaction or an infection.
best,
sml

Dr. Lam, I appreciate you having an open forum so I can discuss my panic. I did call my doctor who did this procedure and he said to wait it out, but I am so scared. I went to my primary care provider today and she noticed no redness or bruising. The area is just completely swelled. What is worse is this morning when I woke up, I was in shock because my outer eyelid swelled up so much it actually covered part of my inner eye preventing me from seeing well. I went to the ER and they took my blood to see if there was in infection present. He did poke my eye with the needle when he was in the tear trough region, so maybe this is the result. the left side of my face is fine. could i be going blind dr. lam?

Scary!!! Everyone should go to dr. lam to prevent these things from happening. dr. lam is the expert and too bad other doc's aren't.

Dr. Lam, this is not the first time I have heard of complications and fears of blindness resulting from tear trough injections. If a doc did the the entire tear trough region, the eyeball is so close to the rim. If the doc accidently poked the eyeball with the needle, could major blindness occur. I have read other posts online and everyone is terrified of blindness. From my understanding, the FDA never approved fillers to be put in the tear trough/under eye area and doc's are still doing it. Are they that confident that there is no risks of blindness or is it being dramatized too much? I am scared about it myself.

I have heard too much about blindness with the research I have done on google.com. I am petrified of blindness.

Dr. Lam, to echo that concern, the eyeball is close to the rim where the filler is injected. if blindness does occur due to complications, would it be from the needle poking the eyeball area accidently or by blockage, I am unsure. I want my tear troughs done, but I am nervous. Have you ever heard of a case of blindness from tear trough injections and what do you think could be the root cause of it?

okay guys, i am not here to incite panic in everyone. let's calm down. serena, i CANNOT give you medical advise for your situation. this forum is about talking in general concepts. that is it. read my disclaimer above. i am very serious about that.

blindness if it is going to occur, occurs right after the procedure. i have never heard of it happening months later. i think the risk of blindness is really really really small. however, that is still unacceptably high to me so that is why i do not use needles. a needle injected into the bloodstream is why blindness can occur. i really do not want this forum to get out of control. it is not intended to scare people. that being said, that is why i simply use cannulas which are blunt tip and really do not get into a blood vessels. even when i inject an anesthetic in it goes in with a cannula. am i the only one doing this in the U.S.? probably. i truly believe that cannulas are the way to go in almost every case. but that is me.