The Eyes Have It

I was originally going to make this post a rant about how sucky it is to get older. Gray hairs, reading glasses, cellulite, wrinkles, spider veins - the whole shebang. But there is a wisdom in growing older, and as much as I hate the physical part of time passing, I wouldn't trade it. I embrace my age, and I'm proud that I can tell my son those 'remember when' stories, (like, I remember our first microwave oven, the creation of liquid soap, televisions with remote controls, the first moment MTV aired- I mean, it's cool to think we saw all of those things come to life, right?). Although I embrace my age, that doesn't mean I can't gripe about it a bit. I want to tell you about my experience with Dysport. If you don't know what Dysport is, it's kind of like Botox - it's an injection (or several injections) used to treat wrinkles, fine lines, crow's feet, etc. Do you want to know why I tried Dysport and what happened? Of course you do! Read on!

Before I tell you this story, here's my big disclaimer: I am not a doctor so I am not here to share official medical information with you. I'm not telling you to try Dysport or Botox, one way or another. I'm simply sharing my story and it's up to you to do your own homework if this is something you want to pursue, too. So don't go blaming The Jersey Momma for any decisions you make regarding your own face. And please, let's refrain from judging one another. Maybe you would never try Dysport or Botox, but maybe someone else would without hesitation. Or maybe someone had a physical issue (like I did) that prompted them to try it in the first place. We can't judge each other when it comes to this stuff. Live and let live, as they say.

I have always had hooded eyes, which means you don't see much of my eyelids because my brow kind of hides the top of them (celebrities like Helen Hunt, Russell Crowe and even Jennifer Garner have varying degrees of hooded eyes). My eyeliner always smudges, and when I'm tired, I look even more tired because of the hooded eyes. To top it off, one of my eyes has always been a little more hooded than the other, so sometimes in pictures I look like I'm winking at you. Or I'm insane. Or both.

Me in the late 1970's or early 80's - on the monorail!

Anyway, during the pandemic (and thanks to all of those stupid Zoom meetings staring at myself all the time!), I noticed that one of my eyes was really starting to look way droopier than the other. And I could feel it when I would blink, like my eyelids were too heavy. If you looked closely at my eyes, it almost looked like I was worried all the time. When I spoke to people or if I was on video, I would instinctively raise my eyebrows to open my eyes up. In fact, it was difficult to find a photo of myself from the past five years when I wasn't raising my eyebrows (like I'm eternally surprised!). I am joking about it now but it was really affecting my self-esteem. I felt like my face had aged 10 years because of my eyes. I hated looking in the mirror and it was getting harder to hide it in photos and videos. I know inner beauty is what really matters, but sometimes when you don't look good on the outside- especially when it's a noticeable or sudden change- it really harms how you feel on the inside, too.

Eternally surprised!

My ophthalmologist thought it might be something called Ptosis (the P is silent), since it was worse in one eye, and referred me to an eye surgeon in Florham Park (this is not a sponsored post so I'm going to leave her name out of it for now). How fun, right? It's not depressing enough that we're all dealing with a pandemic and now I have this stupid droopy eye! I tried everything I could to hide it, too. I brushed my hair over my eye, wore glasses when I could, googled treatments (I even googled drag queen make-up secrets because I thought they must know the best tricks of all! Have you seen how gorgeous some of them are?? Especially you, Jan Sport).

It turns out that what I had wasn't true Ptosis after all, and was really just my skin showing its age. There is a surgery that can be done to correct the eyelids but I wanted to avoid that if I could, so the doctor suggested trying Dysport to see if it would lift my brow a little bit. I told you I had already done my google research before I visited the eye surgeon so I knew what some of my options could be. I had actually already read up on Dysport and knew a bit about it. I also knew that it could make my condition worse if it was not done properly. The doctor I was visiting came highly recommended and specialized in Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. So I didn't hesitate too much when she made the suggestion. In fact, I even asked, "Hey, can you fix my 11's while you're at it?" (the 11's are the dreaded frown lines between your eyebrows. They always make me think of the movie The Frighteners with Michael J. Fox, when the murderer would carve numbers in the foreheads of his victims!). She chuckled and said she absolutely could. "If we're gonna do it, let's do it right!" she agreed.

Not winking!

So let me just answer your questions (which I know you have because I did, too) in a nutshell.

Did it hurt? A little bit. But the doctor applied some numbing gel and ice packs before-hand so it just felt like tiny pinches.

Did you bruise? I did not have any bruising. I had one small bump/lump on the top of my forehead that disappeared after a few hours.

Was it expensive? I didn't think it was too bad. I thought it would be worth the cost if it would fix my issue, because I sure did hate looking in the mirror. Insurance did not cover any of it - my hooded eyelids would literally have to be covering my pupils before insurance would step in.

Did it work? Did it! I love a good filter on Instagram and I will openly admit to using them and sprucing myself up in social media photos, but if you've noticed my smooth forehead and eyes in any recent photos, I assure you that's not a filter! Ain't nobody carvin' a number in my forehead!

But just know that it wasn't a quick transition. Dysport can take up to 10 days to take full effect, and that was definitely the case for me. I noticed subtle changes each day but the effect wasn't instant. The first few days it was hard to raise my eyebrows (which I found kind of funny, actually), but that improved in about two weeks and I can raise them well enough now (I've spent my whole life raising them so they need a rest anyway). And as beautifully smooth as my forehead is, the Dysport didn't totally fix my hooded eyelids (that surgery might still be in my future, but we'll see...). But it definitely helped. It kind of tightened the skin above my eyes and got rid of that droopy, worried look. More importantly, I feel so much better about myself, and my eyes don't feel as tired and heavy anymore. I will need to return in about 4 months if I want to keep it up (it doesn't last forever. Does anything?).I also may or may not have chosen to incorporate some of those drag queen make-up tricks into my daily routine, too. Just sayin'.