Dr. Paul F. Fortes, a double Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon, is an artist and a leading aesthetic plastic surgeon based in Houston, Texas. Dr. Fortes sees patients in two beautiful facilities in Memorial/ Town and Country and Galleria/River Oaks District in Houston. He is an owner of ACPS Spa and Rejuvenation Center, also in the two Houston locations, as well as ACPS The SurgiCenter, an AAAASF-certified state of the art four-operating room facility located in Memorial/Town and Country. He has lectured domestically and internationally on body contouring and now heads a safety course presented yearly at ASAPS’s The Aesthetic Meeting on body contouring surgery. He is board-certified and recertified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery as well as the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Fortes has become a global leader in aesthetic plastic surgery. He has lectured to international plastic surgeons in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Israel, and Malaysia and has been recognized as such by plastic surgery societies around the world. Dr. Fortes dishes on numerous options to reverse aging around the eye, both possible through surgical and non-surgical procedures.

Photo Credit: ShutterstockHB: What options do you offer to reverse aging in the eye area?

Aging around the eyes occurs from changes to the eyelid skin and the support structures around the eyelids. These changes are not only from chronological aging but also from long-term smoking and from exposure to ultraviolet light.

There is a progressive loss of collagen and elastin, which leads to sagging of the eyelids skin, and there is a fat loss of the cheeks which leads to the hollowing of the area below the lower eyelids. Sagging of the forehead also leads to hooding and a more aged appearance of the upper eyelids.

The options to reverse these changes include surgical as well as non-surgical procedures.

Among the surgical options are upper and lower blepharoplasties (eyelid lifts), brow lift surgery, and fat grafting of the cheeks, forehead, and temples.

Among the non-surgical options are ablative and non-ablative laser resurfacing, chemical peels, injectable fillers of the hollows around the eyes, forehead, and temples, and Botox for action wrinkles.

HB: What are each of these treatments like?

The options can include the surgical and non-surgical treatments listed previously.

Surgical procedures usually have a downtime of 1-2 weeks to recover from brushing and swelling.

Non-surgical procedures are a quicker recovery and often have minimal downtime. Injectable fillers, Botox, and light chemical peels are simple procedures done under local anesthesia or no anesthesia at all. They don’t interfere with returning very quickly to normal activities.

Photo Credit: ShutterstockHB: Who is a good candidate for each and who is a bad candidate for each?

Chemical are laser peels are best for patients with fair complexions and riskier in darker-skinned patients. Surgical procedures require that patients be in good health or have health conditions that are well controlled. Patients in poor health or who take medications like blood thinners are not good candidates for these surgical procedures.

Minor office procedures are well tolerated by most patients.

HB: What is recovery like?

Recovery from major surgery is usually 1-2 weeks of recovering from bruising and swelling. Minor office procedures like fillers and Botox offer very quick recoveries.

HB: What is the cost?

The cost of an eyelid, brow lift, and fat grafting surgery, including general anesthesia and facility, is in the $5,000 to $10,000 range, depending on the combination of procedures performed.

For minor office procedures, the cost can be as low as $350 for Botox of the crow’s feet and as high as a few thousand dollars for several treatment areas of Botox and several syringes of filler.