Izzy Anaya was tired of looking tired.
The skin over her covered eyelids began to sag and wrinkle. She looked constantly exhausted and much older than her 43 years.
Trying to fight sagging, the Manhattan mom-of-two routinely received botox and filler injections in her forehead. She hoped the popular toxins would lift her brow line and tighten the skin. But the treatments just didn’t work.
So late last year she called a cosmetic surgeon, spent over $10,000 and asked him to fix the problem once and for all.
“I had eyelid surgery, and I feel like my face lost 10 years just because I removed that little piece of skin over my eyes,” said Anaya, a stay-at-home mom and lifestyle content creator , told The Post about the lively operation.
A new anti-aging viral surgery, blepharoplasty is a facial rejuvenation process in which specialists remove excess skin and fat that can develop both above and below the eyelid with age.
Rumor has it that A-listers like supermodel Giselle Bundchen (42) and Golden Globe winners Matt Damon (52) and Jennifer Coolidge (61) have undergone this procedure.
About an hour after she was put under the knife, Anaya’s doctor, Jordan Terner of Manhattan Plastic Surgery on the Upper East Side, sent her home with Tylenol and a recommendation of 48 hours of bed rest, during which she experienced minimal pain.
“It was a 20 minute procedure and it eliminated all my wrinkles. It tightened my face without having to do a facelift,” Anaya said, adding that she no longer has to wear eye makeup. “It is wonderful.”
In 2020, blepharoplasty, also known as “bleph” or “eyelid surgery,” was ranked as one of the top five cosmetic procedures in the United States by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
The website also listed the surgery as one of the most popular nip/tucks in patients 45 and older in a 2022 report.
A separate April 2022 study by global healthcare consultancy Maximize Market Research found that the market popularity of blepharoplasty is expected to grow from its current national value of $4.3 million to a staggering $7.9 million by 2029.
And on TikTok, his eponymous hashtag has garnered over 377.1 million views from people pondering the cut – which has grown in popularity among both women and men since the pandemic.
“Interest in the operation has since increased because of people wearing masks [over their mouths and noses]drawing more attention to the eye area,” said Eleanor Kim, eye surgeon at NYU Langone Eye Center.
“People were also on Zoom and using virtual meeting rooms,” she added, “so they were looking a lot more and wanting a blepharoplasty to rejuvenate the skin.”
But the benefits of surgery aren’t necessarily rooted in vanity.
Kim tells The Post that removing excess flesh around the eyes can save people with obscured eyes from suffering peripheral vision loss due to the overhang. In cases where the drooping eyelid causes significant visual impairment, the cost of the surgery is usually covered by insurance.
And while there are some risks that come with the surgery — like chronic dry eye and partial blindness — Kim says it’s “tried and true” surgery with numerous benefits.
For Paul Connell, clearer vision was a bonus from his October 2022 blepharoplasty at plastic surgeon Mark Karolak in Wall Township, New Jersey.
“I can see better without those heavy turtle shells over my eyes,” said Connell, 48, of Edgewater, New Jersey, with a laugh. He did not want to disclose how much he paid for the procedure.
An electrical contractor and a recurring guest star on “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” Dolores Catania’s, 52, boyfriend Connell underwent the procedure to reduce the severe heaviness that had begun to strain his eyes.
“Whether I was lying down, driving or watching TV, my eyes always felt heavy and they looked really swollen,” he said.
“But when I had the surgery, it was like a weight was taken off my face,” Connell continued, adding that the surgery also boosted his confidence both on and off camera. “I look fresher, which I really appreciate now that I’m in my 40s.”
And Barak Rotem, 48, who traveled from Texas to Tijuana, Mexico, in 2020 for blepharoplasty on both his upper and lower eyelids, agreed the surgeries, which combined cost him just over $4,000. dollars, have helped keep its fresh face.
“I don’t want to age naturally,” Rotem, a Houston-based interior designer and fitness instructor, told The Post. “When people see me [now]they think I’m 35. Everyone should do that.”
And to haters who might argue that eyelid surgery is a superficial waste of time and money, Anaya said, “Don’t be mad just because you can’t afford it.”
“If you had the money, you would get a blepharoplasty too.”
#spent #trendy #eye #surgery #dont #hate #afford
