“Wish I was born with double eyelids.”

You hear this a lot after a group picture and the ladies start the routine check for social media acceptability in photos taken. Well, you’re not alone in this quest to solve the monolid problem. If you’re reading past this point, you’re probably already sick and tired of all the eyelid tape and other artificial means of creating that much vaunted double eyelids for yourself. Perhaps you’re not quite ready, but it couldn’t hurt to find out more about solutions of a more permanent nature. Read on to find out a little more on what exactly goes into creating that double eyelid look for yourself.

This post covers an Instagram story of makeup artist @charlane_yu of her experience with double eyelid surgery.

WHAT IS A DOUBLE EYELID?

Statistically, about half the people in Asia have double eyelids. There is nothing medically wrong if you have either single or double eyelids. The skin folds on the upper eyelid due to the way the muscle responsible for the of opening the eyelids attaches to the skin. In persons where this attachment is weak or not present, the crease does not appear.

Still, having double eyelids is seen as aesthetically pleasing, double eyelid surgery is the most common form of surgery in Asia. Apart from purely aesthetic reason, there may be a few other reasons why a person would undergo eyelid surgery. These include:

• Poorly formed eyelids that hinder vision
• Only one of your eyes has a double eyelid

WHAT IS A DOUBLE EYELID SURGERY IN SINGAPORE (UPPER BLEPHAROPLASTY SURGERY)?

Should you already be considering double eyelid surgery, there are a few questions that are important for you to answer when you have that first consult with your plastic surgeon. Here’s a list to give you a good idea, be honest with yourself!

• your own expectations of how you would like the end result to be
• any conditions that affect your eyes/eyelids, or the area around the eye should be noted down
• your medical history, especially if you require ongoing medication and if you have any allergies.
• the type of surgery you would prefer (incisional or non-incisional)
• preference of type of anaesthesia used during your procedure
• recovery downtime, arrangements for post-operative transport from the hospital, and risks of the procedure you would like to clarify on

There are 2 types of double eyelid surgery in Singapore that are commonly used by surgeons to create those highly sought eyelid creases. Both deal with techniques that manipulate the eyelid skin (more specifically, the upper eyelid) to create the eyelid fold for persons with single eyelids.

TYPES OF DOUBLE EYELID SURGERY SINGAPORE

Here we list the types of double eyelid surgery in Singapore. Both methods have the pros and cons, and will highly depend on the type of upper eyelids you have. Other factors that surgeons consider for the best fit are existing medical conditions, thickness of eyelid skin and whether there is fat on the upper eyelids. Both methods also have differing amounts of recovery time, so bear this in mind as you schedule your upcoming activities.

Incisional Technique:

This technique involves having the surgeon first mark out the crease line on the upper eyelid with a pen. The markings denote the areas planned for the surgeon to make incisions and skin removals along the the upper eyelid at the double eyelid line. Some fat and muscle will also be removed during the procedure.

Sometimes, the surgeon also includes procedures to correct other eyelid deformities, such as excess skin, fat or droopy eyelids during the surgery. It is important to note that the incisional technique double eyelid surgery is non-reversible.

Non-Incisional Technique:

In this type of procedure, the surgeon creates the double eyelid crease without using incisions. Instead, the planned area for the double eyelid is first carefully marked and planned. After numbing the area with local anaesthesia and IV sedation, punctures are strategically made along the marked areas. Sutures are then carefully placed through the puncture holes and pulled tight. There are several techniques when it comes to the placement of sutures, and your plastic surgeon will be better explain the exact technique used in creating your eyelid crease.

The sutures method typically do not need to be removed once your eyelid fold heals from the surgery, and has a significantly lower downtime than with the incisional method. However, if you require excess skin and fat removed from your eyelids, or other sorts of adjustments to the skin around the eye area, the incisional method may still be a better fit for you. Consult closely and candidly with your surgeon to find out which method will be the best fit for you.

REVIEW: DOUBLE EYELID SURGERY FOR @CHARLANE_YU BY DR SAMUEL HO

PRE-SURGERY | DAY 0

Charlane: Sign the consent form which made me more nervous than the surgery itself. Geared up, applied numbing cream for injection.

POST-SURGERY | DAY 0 HOUR 1

Charlane: An hour after the surgery. Eyelids felt like 2kg. Really hard to open. It’s uneven but Dr Ho said it’s normal. Pain level 8/10 if don’t take painkiller. Super teary eyes. Nonstop tearing.

POST-SURGERY | DAY 0 EVENING

Charlane: I can go out for dinner already! It’s looking more even now. I think the hourly icing really helps to reduce the swelling a lot!

POST-SURGERY | DAY 1

Charlane: Not much pain unless I accidentally touch my lids. Still swollen. But bruising went away

POST-SURGERY | DAY 2

Charlane: Looks similar to day 1. Easier to open eyes today. Still looks uneven.

POST-SURGERY | DAY 3

Charlane: Swelling went down more! At this point it’s really not painful. But I still wash face very carefully. If I press on the lids it still hurt.

POST-SURGERY | DAY 4 & 5

POST-SURGERY | WEEK 1

Charlane: Put on some light makeup 1 week after the surgery! I’m so not used to drawing my eyes suddenly with double eyelids. Need to try a few times to get better at it. With makeup you can’t see the scars at all!

POST SURGERY | WEEK 2

Charlane: Looking more natural. Just the height I like because I don’t always wear makeup. So I wanted the lids to look natural even without makeup. This photo I only have eyebrows on.

POST SURGERY | 1 MONTH

Q&A

After posting her story, the reactions to her surgery were stunningly positive. She answers more questions about her surgery and her experience below.

Question: How long is the downtime for the wound to recover? They looked really natural wow

Charlane: I just took this video. Close up on the lid and the scars.

It’s been 18 days after the surgery. I have been applying the scar gel from Dr Samuel every day twice. I think the scars lightened a lot. Need to continue using the gel for 2 months until the scar completedly disappear.

I went to work on the 5^th day after my surgery. My bride who has seen my single eyelid told me she really likes my new eyes and it doesn’t look swollen!! So there you go. Haha.

Stitching method usually recovers quite fast. I would think by 4 weeks it will be very very natural.

Comment: How long does it last?

Charlane: It really depends. For stitching method, 9 out of 10 people’s eyelids can last up to 10 years (according to Dr Samuel).

It depends on your eyelid structure, I guess how you take care of the lids too. Like rubbing is definitely gonna affect.

As we age the skin will also drop but that happens to everyone so you can decide if you want to revisit your doctor or not.

Question: What makes you decide to get stitching instead of incision? Is it less painful for stitching?

Charlane: Personally I didn’t have a strong preference as to if I want to cut or stitch. I heard some eyelids are not suitable for stitching.

So I went for consultation with Dr Samuel Ho said mine can do both methods based on the result I want to achieve, which is medium height, tapered shape.

Hooray! Cos I’d rather do stitching because it’s shorter downtime and cheaper! I had to fly off in 2 weeks after the surgery so I literally didn’t have time for reviews if I need to cut it.

I can’t say how painful the cutting method is since I didn’t go for that but I would imagine it will be more tedious to care for, longer recovery time so it would mean longer pain period?

Question: Hi can I know the cost?

Charlane: Haha this is the main deciding factor for me too. I think overseas can get a deal as low as 1k? I have enquired some of the Korea clinics and it cost around 3-4k without transport and lodging. So back to this surgery. I paid slightly over 4k for non-incisional double eyelids. Including consultation, light sedation, surgery, post surgery medications. It is one of the more pricey clinic but I’d rather pay for one that I Feed more confident in (I’m sure there are other good clinics out there. But @allureplasticsurgery.sg somehow appeals to me)

Afterall it’s in the eyes. And being a makeup artist I am quite an perfectionist when it comes to the balance of my eyelids. To me that’s more important than the size of my eyes.

After considering everything I convinced myself that this 4k will be a good investment.

Question: Was it painful! Did you scream and bite someone?

Charlane: It was quite painful for a couple of hours after the surgery. I said “Uhhh it just went up to 8 (the pain level)”. And I was trying to bite off @gilliannnnn’s toe. I blame sedation drugs for this. But I think my heart hurt more when she called me a weakling.

Question: Babe your eyelids look nice! Is your surgery incisional or non incisional?

Charlane: Thank you!! I did non-incisional method, also known as the stitching method. Dr Ho made 4 stitches on each eyelid. This is 1 day after the surgery. Still swollen but not extremely puffy.

Question: Looking so good babe!

Charlane: Thank you so much! I’m slowly used to seeing myself in this new look! Kind of wish I did it earlier but the husband took a very long time to convince.

Question: Where is the place that you went for the surgery?

Charlane: This is it! I went to Dr Samuel Ho @allureplasticsurgery.sg. Read good reviews about him so just went with it. Initially I wanted to do it overseas because so many people said it’s cheaper and the results are good.

Looking at the sheer amount of good things people say about her new eyelids, we can safely conclude this as a job well done. For friends out there considering giving up eyelid stickers for double eyelid surgery, I sure hope this experience has helped you gain a fresh understanding of the experience.

To read more about Charlane’s experience, follow here Instagram here!