Patients often ask me if there is a non-medical, “natural” remedy for malar bags and eyelid Festoons. To answer this question, we need to first understand what the underlying causes are of malar bags and eyelid Festoons.
Understanding Malar Mounds and Festoons
Malar Mounds and Festoons are skin folds, edema of the lower eyelid and swelling on the check.
They form as a result of sun damage and underlying forces under the skin caused by contrasting muscle action.
While some people have an family genetic predisposition to Malar Mounds and eyelid Festoons, most people develop them as a result of sun damage to the fragile skin in the lower eyelid and cheek region. We often don’t appreciate how the sun, in small doses over our lifetime, affects our skin in general and the eyelid and cheek region specifically.
Once we understand this, we see that the best way to improve malar bags and eyelid Festoons is to rejuvenate the skin layers in this region.
I can do this surgically with my Laser RESET Festoons procedure, which causes the skin to renew itself in a healthier, younger and more attractive state.
By addressing the root cause of the problem, I am able to restore the skin to a better state.
Non-surgically speaking, there is a “natural” remedy available, but it does not actually improve malar bags and eyelid Festoons; at most it can help prevent them from getting worse. This natural remedy is the regular use of sunblock and other sun protection. Wearing sunblock on all parts of your body exposed to sun on a daily basis prevents further sun damage to the skin and in turn prevents worsening of lower eyelid Festoons and Malar Mounds.
Another medical non-surgical way to somewhat reduce Malar Mounds and eyelid Festoons involves the use of medical products to improve the skin. One such product is Tretinoin (commonly known as Retin-A), which has been proven to help create new collagen in the skin. Retin-A was discovered by Dr. Albert Kligman, who was in the Dermatology Department at the medical school where I trained, The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Using Retin-A for many years can improve the collagen and elastin levels in the skin, which can help correct a main cause of many Malar Mounds and Festoons—namely, damage to the skin over time from the sun. That said, it is still not as effective as surgical treatment options.
In Short
In my life, I’ve often heard the phrase “there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” which I interpret to mean that getting real results in life takes real effort and work. Along a similar vein, the idea that the difficult-to-treat medical condition of Malar Mounds and Eyelid Festoons can be addressed with a non-medical natural remedy is enticing to contemplate, but at this point in time it isn’t very realistic.
Daily use of sunblock can protect your face from worsening sun damage in general and malar mounds and Festoons specifically, and the use of Retin-A can also be helpful to improve the skin to a slight degree. But by far the most effective way to completely improve Malar Mounds and eyelid Festoons is though surgical and laser treatments like my RESET treatment.
Learn more about RESET® Festoons