Blepharospasm Bulletin Board

I had a blepharoplasty in August of 2007 & have not had one moment of regret! At least blepharoplasty was how it was worded on the insurance papers. Dr. Merrick in Dallas did the surgery.
I asked him whether it was a myectomy and he said that he would consider it a limited myectomy because he removed only as much muscle as he thought was necessary.

I still need botox but I was never led to believe that I wouldn't. The surgery removed a large amount of skin from my eyelids and makes it much easier to open my eyes. I credit the excess skin to the stretching caused by my having to hold my eyelids open to see. Maybe it was also hereditary but it doesn't really matter because it was contributing to the problem and removing it really helped!

I am 55 and had dealt with the spasms becoming progressively worse for several years before I was diagnosed and received botox shots for 2 to 3 years before the surgery.

There was absolutely no pain from the surgery! I kept my hands off my eyelids as much as possible afterwords, used the ice packs and really was amazed at how fast I healed. I have put a small amount of over the counter eyelid cream on my eyelids everyday since the stitches were removed and the scars are virtually gone.

My husband has Aetna HMO through Home Depot and we have never had problems with insurance coverage (crossing my fingers). I always thought that the insurance company was keeping me from having injections more that every 3 months because my neurologist would only give them that often regardless of need.

Since the surgery, I have been going to Dr. Merritt (an ocular surgeon) & get botox every 2 months. Things are much easier to deal with now & so far no insurance objections.

I haven't posted a lot about this in the past because I have been waiting to measure the results. I can truly say I have no regrets!

Let me know if you have any more questions.