EYES WIDE OPEN
When Charles looked in the mirror at 68, he did not like what he saw.
With age, the retired California resident’s eyes had become less visible and “squinty,” and he felt as though his face was melting.
“I would walk by the mirror, I looked there and said, ‘Who is that? And why is that guy so angry?’” he told People. “I just had this really heavy, angry look. When I looked at myself, I said, ‘I don’t feel this way.’ That disconnect just bothered me more and more over time.”
His wife had undergone facial plastic surgery with Dr. David Lieberman and Dr. Sachin Parikh at L&P Aesthetics in California’s Bay Area years earlier, and Charles decided it was his time, too.
After conversations with the board-certified plastic surgeons, Charles opted for a mix of procedures to address his concerns.
In February, Charles underwent an L&P signature deep-plane facelift and neck lift to address loose skin, a brow lift to open his eyes further, and fat grafting to restore volume to areas that had lost it.
The plastic surgeons told The Looker that the brow lift was key to addressing the “upper eyelid hooding that contributed to a perceived ‘angry’ or fatigued expression.”
Charles also opted for otoplasty to address his ears.
“He told us that he had been bullied as a kid for having protruding ears, and it was something that still bothered him when he looked at himself in the mirror,” Dr. Lieberman and Dr. Parikh said.
The procedure, which pins the ears back to make them appear less protruding, can be performed in less than an hour under local anesthesia as a standalone treatment.
After undergoing the set of procedures, Charles noticed an immediate change in the mirror.
“The first thing I noticed is that my eyes are back,” Charles told People, adding, “I’ve got my eyes.”
Although his recovery was initially uncomfortable, Charles was back to his hobbies in two weeks.
Now, he is thrilled with the results.
“I feel like I look more like me now, and I don’t feel like I look like someone else,” Charles said.
He added, “I have had people come up to me and ask me, ‘Hey, have you been working out or something?’ It’s like that kind of thing, because I do think getting rid of the flabby neck and the saggy, grumpy-looking face brightens things, but I don’t think I look like a different person.”
