Key takeaways
Eye bag surgery + tear trough fat grafting case: deep tear troughs made her eyes look tired and were hard to cover with makeup. After an assessment with Dr. Po-Ying Lee, she had eye bag surgery under IV sedation, with her own fat used to fill the tear troughs. There was almost no pain afterward; by about day seven the swelling was barely noticeable, after the one-week follow-up she no longer needed cosmetic tape, and overall recovery took about a month.
Contents
"I'm Miss Rose, I'm 30, and I'm a full-time content creator. My work means I'm often in front of the camera, and in every photo my tear troughs looked quite deep, making my eyes look tired, sleepy and dull. Every time I asked the photographer to retouch the photos I felt a bit embarrassed. My eyes are fairly big, so if the tear troughs weren't edited out, the area under my eyes looked like it had lots of layers, and the dark circles were very obvious. I'd considered dark circle injections or hyaluronic acid fillers, but friends said the results don't last long, so I finally decided to solve it with surgery..."
Xiaohongshu tutorials and a 4-color concealer palette didn't do the trick
I'm a full-time beauty content creator, so my work often puts me in front of the camera, and in every photo my tear troughs looked deep, making my eyes look tired, sleepy and dull. I tried lots of makeup techniques. I used a four-color palette close to my skin tone and followed those dark-circle tutorials on Xiaohongshu, but I still couldn't completely cover my tear troughs. And now that short-form Reels are so popular, I can't avoid filming videos, and the biggest downside of video is that you can't retouch it, haha. Still photos can be edited afterward, but video is completely real. Every time I asked the photographer to retouch, I felt a bit embarrassed, because my eyes are fairly big, so if the tear troughs weren't edited out, the area under my eyes looked like it had lots of layers, and the dark circles were very obvious. I'd considered dark circle injections or hyaluronic acid fillers, but friends said they don't last long, so I finally decided on surgery.
Eye smile fold, eye bags or tear troughs? It turns out eye bag surgery can do this too
Before my consultation, I couldn't really tell the difference between an eye smile fold, eye bags and tear troughs, haha. I just felt there were lots of layers under my eyes. Sometimes I'd think one should be my eye smile fold, but then I'd notice there seemed to be two layers, and I didn't know which was the eye bag and which was the tear trough. Later a friend told me about eye bag surgery, so I thought I'd come in for a consultation.
On the day of the consultation, the doctor told me my tear troughs were actually the deeper issue, so besides removing the eye bags, he specifically recommended fat grafting to the tear troughs. That was the first time I learned that eye bag surgery can not only remove eye bags but also fill in tear troughs. After surgery I felt the area under my eyes and my cheeks had plumped up, and the result is great.
Swelling gone in 7 days, with zero pain
The day before surgery I was a little nervous and a little excited. On the day, I only got really nervous when I changed into the surgical gown, especially passing through the sterilization door, when I thought, "Wow! I'm really having surgery!" In the operating room the nurses were very attentive and chatted with me. I chose IV sedation, which is basically just sleeping and waking up. I think the anesthesia wore off quite quickly for me and I didn't feel anything special. When I woke up there were bandages under my eyes, and I was told I could go home.
I think my recovery was quite fast, and the incisions were much smaller than I expected, so it hardly affected daily life. A friend who'd had it done told me her vision was a bit blurry afterward, but I didn't have that at all. Because I also had liposuction for the tear trough fat grafting, there was a small bruise on my belly, but no discomfort and no scar. I kept pulling my eyelids open to look for the incision, haha, but I really couldn't find it. What surprised me most was that it didn't hurt at all; my eyes were just swollen. My recovery took about a month, maybe because of the fat grafting, but by day seven the swelling was barely noticeable. At my one-week follow-up the doctor said I no longer needed the cosmetic tape under my eyes, and only a tiny bruise was left. I think eye bag surgery is a really convenient procedure, because it needs no special care; the incision is inside the eyelid, so you don't need to protect it
The complete guide to aftercare following eye bag surgery
Choosing a clinic: doctor, environment and service
After surgery the clinic checked on me a lot, basically every two or three days, and told me what not to do in daily life, like not getting the incisions wet. It's been two months now and I'd give it a 10. I really think this place is amazing.
I did some homework when choosing a clinic. NAISS CLINIC is quite well known online and the environment looked great. After the consultation I found the doctor very meticulous and the nursing staff very friendly. Dr. Lee is really nice; he explained everything in detail during the consultation and patiently answered all my questions, so I decided to have it done at NAISS CLINIC. I posted about it on social media and loads of people asked me about it; I had no idea so many people had the same problem, hahaha. I feel that eye bag surgery is like secretly getting prettier: in person no one can tell you've had anything done, but when you see the before and after photos, the difference is huge
My only advice: do it early and choose IV sedation
Since my eye bag surgery, my eyes don't look as tired, the area under them isn't as dark, and makeup is much easier because I don't have to focus on concealing tear troughs and eye bags. My face looks smooth now and the result is really good. So many people ask me about eye bag surgery, and I always say: do it early!! Even my own mom has been asking me, hahaha. I think it was so worth it that I don't really understand why so many people still hesitate. I know some people are afraid of surgery or pain, since it involves operating near the eyes, but I've been through it myself, so I highly recommend it; I only wish I'd done it sooner. If you're afraid of pain or surgery, I suggest IV sedation; you really just sleep and wake up. After mine, I told all my friends to hurry up and do it, hahaha. If I could go back in time, I'd have the surgery right away. It beats getting hyaluronic acid injections over and over!
What to know before eye bag surgery: an easy guide and FAQ for aesthetic beginners
This story reflects one patient's experience. Results and recovery vary from person to person; please consult a doctor in person about your own treatment plan.
