What to Expect During a Blepharoplasty Consultation
A consultation is primarily a moment of communication between the patient and the surgeon. The patient should be given time to express what is bothering him. For example, a patient may have excessive drooping upper eyelids, bags under the eyes, and drooping eyebrows. From the patient’s perspective, only the upper eyelids may be bothersome. Dr. Ebroon strongly believes that a patient should only work to address what is bothering him.
After listening to the concerns of the patient, it is time to review the medical history. What other medical conditions does the patient have? What surgeries have you had in the past? Do you have a particular eye condition? Are you allergic to medications? What family history is there? Does the patient smoke? What else is happening medically?
Once these questions are answered, Dr. Ebroon can perform a comprehensive eye, eyelid, and face exam. This includes taking vision, taking ten separate measurements of the eyelids, evaluating dry eye with two different dry eye tests, looking at the eye under a microscope, evaluating the position and strength of the eyelids, checking the drooping eyelids, measuring the Position the eyebrows, looking for normal eye reflexes, testing the nerves around the eyes, and taking photographs of the eyelids.
After the physical examination is complete, Dr. Ebroon can provide his recommendations. Discuss what surgical technique, if any, I would recommend. It also looks at any special circumstances of the surgery given the patient’s unique medical history and physical examination. For example, a patient with dry eyes may be told that their surgery should be more conservative so as not to aggravate the dryness.
Finally, Dr. Ebroon tries to answer the pending questions. Try to anticipate the common questions that are raised during the consultation. However, patients always have unique concerns that are best addressed at this point after a thorough history and physical examination. Dr. Ebroon acknowledges that patients feel much more comfortable when they have been given enough time to ask questions.
Patients meet Dianne, Dr. Ebroon’s surgical coordinator, after the consultation is over. Dianne is happy to review “before and after” photos of other patients who have undergone surgery. (These images are all from patients who have given our office permission to show their images to others.) It can be very helpful to see examples of other people who have benefited from blepharoplasty.
Dianne can also go over possible surgical dates. Dr. Ebroon performs most of his surgery on Fridays so patients can incorporate the weekend into the healing process. Dr. Ebroon’s surgical program is often booked for at least a few weeks. Sometimes a cancellation will open an earlier date.