Analyzing the Difference Between Dark Circles and the Tear Trough Through Before-and-After Photos

Hello.

This is Director Lee Won of 21 Plastic Surgery.

Do you know the difference between dark circles

and the tear trough?

Among patients who visit for dark circles,

a tear trough or

a combination of both

is often present.

Also, because patients often confuse these two,

today I’d like to talk about the difference between dark circles and the tear trough^^

Before surgery / 4 months later, front view

Dark circles, as the name suggests,

refer to a condition where the skin under the eyes looks dark.

They usually appear temporarily due to overwork, lack of sleep,

or stress, but they can also occur because of genetics or aging.

If we classify the causes from the perspective of treatment methods,

they can be divided into the following three types.

1. Pigmentation in the skin itself

2. Visibility of the underlying structures due to thin skin

3. Shadowing caused by hollowness under the eyes

If dark circles have been visible since a young age,

you can suspect items 1 and 2 above.

Image showing the tear trough

On the other hand, the tear trough refers to

a sunken line that runs from the inner under-eye area down toward the cheek.

As aging causes the under-eye fat to sag downward,

and the subcutaneous fat and soft tissue in this area to become hollow,

the boundary becomes more pronounced.

Simply put,

dark circles are a problem of color,

while the tear trough is a structural problem,

and it may help to understand them that way^^

Now, let’s look at an actual patient’s photos

and analyze the difference between the tear trough and dark circles^^

Before surgery, front / side

This patient is a woman in her 20s, and when she first visited,

she said she was concerned that her “under eyes looked dark and hollow.”

Looking at the front photo, the under-eye area appears generally dull,

and especially the line running from the inner side outward

stands out prominently.

That line is the tear trough.

However, it is not simply a matter of darker skin.

You can see that a shadow was created because under-eye fat protrusion

and the hollowing below it are occurring together.

Before surgery, we planned to flatten the bulging fat through lower blepharoplasty fat repositioning,

and to naturally create fullness under the eyes through fat grafting.

1 month later, front / side

If you look at the photos one month later,

the under-eye area that had appeared sunken and protruding due to the tear trough has become smoother,

and by preserving the fullness under the eyes,

not only has the impression changed,

but the under-eye area also looks more natural and lively.

However, because the patient wanted a slightly fuller under-eye area,

we decided to proceed with a second fat grafting procedure later^^

4 months later, front / side

This is the result 4 months after the second fat grafting.

Compared with the first procedure, you can see that after the second one,

the fullness under the eyes has become a bit more pronounced.

The patient wanted a clearly defined under-eye fullness,

so she proceeded with a second procedure,

but for those who prefer a more natural look,

it would not be too late to consider whether to proceed with a second round after the first under-eye fat grafting,

after the fat has taken hold^^

The under-eye area is one of the parts of the face where aging appears the earliest.

Lastly, what I want to emphasize is that

dark circles and the tear trough are

although they may look similar, they are completely

different issues.

If the diagnosis is wrong, no matter how good the surgery is,

it becomes difficult to achieve the result you want.

Therefore, I recommend planning a customized treatment plan for yourself

through sufficient consultation with an experienced medical team.

If you have ever looked in the mirror and wondered,

“Is my under-eye area dark circles or a tear trough?”

then now is the time when an accurate diagnosis and treatment are needed.

I promise that I will continue to do my best for your beauty and confidence.

Thank you.

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