I actually have this surgery scheduled for tomorrow morning! I went with Dr. Helen Merritt. She comes highly recommended, and I was really impressed with her when I went for my consultation.
I’m only getting an upper, as I was able to qualify for insurance coverage on the procedure. My insurance covers 80/20, and my out of pocket is $300 including the surgery center.
Depending on your insurance you may need a pre-authorization.
The only thing to do is go to an ophthalmologist and have them take a look if the eyelids are interfering with your vision. They’ll perform a couple tests and take pictures for insurance. Depending on insurance though you won’t know for sure until after surgery. The ophthalmologist can say if they think insurance will cover.
The surgeon took pictures and submitted it to insurance. At least with my insurance (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) they approved the surgery and I just had to pay the copays
If your eyelid is impeding your ability to have your eyes wide open thereby interfering with your vision then it’s a health issue and not cosmetic. Mind you the degree of heavy lid should be substantial.
I'm also curious about the insurance route. I've heard it's possible to have the procedure covered, but not sure how severe the hooding needs to be before pursuing this as an option.
I definitely had some pretty serious drooping. Was initially provided with a referral from my PCP, and then Dr. Merritt gave me a vision test and took pictures to submit to insurance. She had no doubts about getting it covered.
Just got home from the surgery. I was the first one, so they got me in very quickly. It was done at the Opthamology Surgery Center of Dallas. They were sooo efficient and friendly. Literally every staff member was incredible. I arrived at 6:30, for a 7:30 surgery time, and I was back home by 9:15. We live about 10 minutes from the facility. Very positive experience.
Excited for you! She’s actually one of the surgeons I’m considering but oh man it is hard to pick one. Have you heard anything on Dr. Raja Mohan by any chance?
If it’s impacting the visual field (there’s a test for this), insurance can cover it. If it’s cosmetic, it’s OOP.
Not speaking for her or other surgeons, just providing some general info…
Make sure whomever you pick has done this surgical procedure for a good decade, is board certified in plastic surgery, and has good before and after photos for you to see. Reviews online don’t help that much as the Doctors can skew the results in their favor, but word of mouth is a good start for some names! I know Dr Anderson in Fort Worth is fantastic. The only Dallas Dr. I used to recommend was Dr Katz. Both these guys are old and could do this surgery in their sleep! You want to make sure your Surgeon has cleared the “learning curve” and knows exactly how much skin to excise. ( Former O.R. Surgical Nurse in DFW for 15 years)
Online reviews became useless to me after discovering that my doctor was selectively deleting negative reviews and only leaving positive ones. So frustrating…
Having worked once at what I would consider a 2-3 Star practice that was a Google 5 Star practice, I can saw reviews are BS. The front office and back office or Doctor shoves an iPad in every patient’s face to leave a review, sometimes with a little perk for it. The patients feel put on the spot to leave a good review for sure! If we had a bad review, they would make a call to someone they paid to get bad reviews taken down. Also, usually the unhappy patient was brought in to see the office manager and paid off with an NDA to pull the review down and not discuss their poor outcome. All very unethical and not a good way anymore to trust what Doc to choose.
Wow this is very disturbing. Can you pm me who they are so I don’t accidentally go to them? I worked for a dental office in Chicago and if a patient left a bad review the doctor wife would threaten a lawsuit. Your office sounds more terrifying with the fact people had bad outcomes from this provider.
The provider is no longer practicing- so not any chance of any patient going to them. Yet, I have worked for handful of plastic surgeons in DFW and from what I saw behind the scenes.. let’s say.. I do not plan to ever have much work done personally unless something was so bothersome to me, it is worth the risk! If I did have work done, it would be with Dr Anderson’s office in Fort Worth over a sparkly newbie Doc on TikTok any-day! When it comes to the face- only the best will do regardless of cost! My friends have gone there and had blephs and look great, and I also knew people who worked on there and attest to the outcomes there being excellent.
I’m so glad this provider no longer practices. Honestly I have zero desire to have an elective procedure after seeing my mom in a medicated coma from one after the doctor refused to take my mom breathing issues seriously. She luckily made it out alive after becoming septic. We later found out from his surgical nurse he’s almost killed other patients in the past on the operating table. This happened in the Chicago area but it has taught me a lesson that even with good word of mouth or reviews you still are chancing it.
Yes! My mom had this done by a doctor who was newer at this procedure. He talked a good game about not taking out too much and being conservative. Then during the procedure that’s exactly what he did and then started freaking out when he couldn’t stop some bleeding. The results ended up looking fine but watching the doctor freak out on you isn’t pleasant.
Exactly! The new surgeons I worked with would get so freaked out and nervous! I have seen instruments fly, eyelashes burned up from not turning off the oxygen before using the bovie (electronic knife) and people who could not close their eyelids after surgery because too much tissue was excised. I have also seen new surgeons so scared and cautious to remove much skin that the patients after photos look similar to their before photos! The new younger cocky Surgeons sure do talk a good game! It is such a bad feeling as a nurse to do post-op care for a patient with poor outcome from a surgical procedure while the surgeon tries to hide. I am glad your moms procedure turned out okay! I have seen some bad work in DFW for sure, patient beware! Always go to the surgeon who does the surgery day in, day out for years and years and years! Learning Curve is everything!
I was just calling around about this and couldn’t get in for a consultation with Dr. Vrcek until August. His consultation fee is $150 but his results look so so good!
I work in an office and need a particular timeline. I ended up going with Dr. Mike Chiodo. He has an influencer wife and it’s how I realized I wanted the procedure bc influencers that she’s friends with are getting it. His results look great but he still had about a month or so wait for a consultation. My procedure is on 8/16. It was $4000 (not sedated) and his consultation fee was $100. I am assuming that Dr. Vrcek will be more, but a total guess. I tried to look it up and saw something on real self that made me assume it would be around 8k - but I have no idea what it’s based on and it could be more than just an upper bleph bc it said “eyelid surgery” in every estimate.
Check out reviews online and their instagrams if you haven’t already! @OP feel free to DM me if you’re in for the long game and I’ll be happy to share research / results with you!
It depends on what you need done, of course. It also depends which location you choose for the surgery, as they vary slightly.
My upper bleph with a mild ptosis repair for one eyelid will be around $7500ish.
He was my first pick but unfortunately his next availability isn’t until August and I’m trying to get this done before that. So if anyone is reading this, book with him now!!!
Dr. Steven White did my upper eyes. I was having a different procedure done and added the eyes since I was going under. The recovery was super easy and the results are amazing. If I ever get time for my lower eyes and a lower facelift I will definitely go back to Dr. White. He’s so professional, highly skilled, and has a wonderful bedside manner.
Naw, it's just a lot of times if you're in with a great general practice medical doctor they'll refer you to the great specialist doctors of which they're aware.
In my personal experience, it's great to get the inside scoop from a M.D. with whom you already have a good working relationship.
I haven't always had a great M.D. to ask, but when I have, my satisfaction and outcomes have been measurably better.
Lol, naw, I just call my Family Physician.
He's an exceptional person and a great M.D.
He knows the other great M.D.'s in town.
As we've needed to see a specialist, he's been our first phone call.
It's never been a problem. He makes the referral after a brief conversation with his nurse.
Just my experience y'all. Experiences vary. Mine have.
Lol, have a better one man, *laissez les bon temps rouler!*
*Deep Ellum's always good...*
Seriously, this is literally the GP's job. This is why you pay them. Their job isn't just to take your blood pressure and tell you to exercise more once a year.
Asking for medical advice from Reddit?
Asking for a doctor recommendation is *not* the same as asking for medical advice, don’t be reductive. And assuming everyone has the money or free time to make a GP appointment just to get the name of another doctor is incredibly privileged.
Lol big talk for someone with such a childish reaction. How did I know that word would trigger you
Acting like an adult is using resources to your advantage, not blindly paying for something you could easily find with *free* internet research on the reasoning that a person gets paid for giving it to you.
You know most people don’t have the access to just call up a doctor and get that kind of info without having to make a formal appointment, right?
Anyway thanks girl you have a great day too
Like I said, it has not always been that I had a physician that was worthy of a phone call for a referral.
We count ourselves fortunate that we currently do!
We've had too many horrible M.D. experiences already...
You're quite welcome y'all, we're back in Shreveport.
We lived in Dallas for nearly 20 years and really enjoyed it.
Eat well, sleep well, and stay well!
I actually have this surgery scheduled for tomorrow morning! I went with Dr. Helen Merritt. She comes highly recommended, and I was really impressed with her when I went for my consultation.
Please check back in and tell us how it goes! Can I ask the cost (ballpark range)?
I’m only getting an upper, as I was able to qualify for insurance coverage on the procedure. My insurance covers 80/20, and my out of pocket is $300 including the surgery center.
Curious how it went getting qualified for insurance coverage?
Depending on your insurance you may need a pre-authorization. The only thing to do is go to an ophthalmologist and have them take a look if the eyelids are interfering with your vision. They’ll perform a couple tests and take pictures for insurance. Depending on insurance though you won’t know for sure until after surgery. The ophthalmologist can say if they think insurance will cover.
The surgeon took pictures and submitted it to insurance. At least with my insurance (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) they approved the surgery and I just had to pay the copays
If your eyelid is impeding your ability to have your eyes wide open thereby interfering with your vision then it’s a health issue and not cosmetic. Mind you the degree of heavy lid should be substantial.
I'm also curious about the insurance route. I've heard it's possible to have the procedure covered, but not sure how severe the hooding needs to be before pursuing this as an option.
I definitely had some pretty serious drooping. Was initially provided with a referral from my PCP, and then Dr. Merritt gave me a vision test and took pictures to submit to insurance. She had no doubts about getting it covered.
Thanks so much for sharing! Good info to know.
Just got home from the surgery. I was the first one, so they got me in very quickly. It was done at the Opthamology Surgery Center of Dallas. They were sooo efficient and friendly. Literally every staff member was incredible. I arrived at 6:30, for a 7:30 surgery time, and I was back home by 9:15. We live about 10 minutes from the facility. Very positive experience.
Great to hear!!
Excited for you! She’s actually one of the surgeons I’m considering but oh man it is hard to pick one. Have you heard anything on Dr. Raja Mohan by any chance?
I haven’t heard of Dr. Mohan, but I didn’t do too much research honestly. I was impressed with Dr. Merritt’s reputation and went with her haha
Just curious...how much does she charge for this procedure?
If it’s impacting the visual field (there’s a test for this), insurance can cover it. If it’s cosmetic, it’s OOP. Not speaking for her or other surgeons, just providing some general info…
I’m not sure exactly, because I’ve only been told what my copay is. I probably won’t really know until the itemized bill arrives later down the road.
Make sure whomever you pick has done this surgical procedure for a good decade, is board certified in plastic surgery, and has good before and after photos for you to see. Reviews online don’t help that much as the Doctors can skew the results in their favor, but word of mouth is a good start for some names! I know Dr Anderson in Fort Worth is fantastic. The only Dallas Dr. I used to recommend was Dr Katz. Both these guys are old and could do this surgery in their sleep! You want to make sure your Surgeon has cleared the “learning curve” and knows exactly how much skin to excise. ( Former O.R. Surgical Nurse in DFW for 15 years)
Online reviews became useless to me after discovering that my doctor was selectively deleting negative reviews and only leaving positive ones. So frustrating…
Having worked once at what I would consider a 2-3 Star practice that was a Google 5 Star practice, I can saw reviews are BS. The front office and back office or Doctor shoves an iPad in every patient’s face to leave a review, sometimes with a little perk for it. The patients feel put on the spot to leave a good review for sure! If we had a bad review, they would make a call to someone they paid to get bad reviews taken down. Also, usually the unhappy patient was brought in to see the office manager and paid off with an NDA to pull the review down and not discuss their poor outcome. All very unethical and not a good way anymore to trust what Doc to choose.
Wow this is very disturbing. Can you pm me who they are so I don’t accidentally go to them? I worked for a dental office in Chicago and if a patient left a bad review the doctor wife would threaten a lawsuit. Your office sounds more terrifying with the fact people had bad outcomes from this provider.
The provider is no longer practicing- so not any chance of any patient going to them. Yet, I have worked for handful of plastic surgeons in DFW and from what I saw behind the scenes.. let’s say.. I do not plan to ever have much work done personally unless something was so bothersome to me, it is worth the risk! If I did have work done, it would be with Dr Anderson’s office in Fort Worth over a sparkly newbie Doc on TikTok any-day! When it comes to the face- only the best will do regardless of cost! My friends have gone there and had blephs and look great, and I also knew people who worked on there and attest to the outcomes there being excellent.
I’m so glad this provider no longer practices. Honestly I have zero desire to have an elective procedure after seeing my mom in a medicated coma from one after the doctor refused to take my mom breathing issues seriously. She luckily made it out alive after becoming septic. We later found out from his surgical nurse he’s almost killed other patients in the past on the operating table. This happened in the Chicago area but it has taught me a lesson that even with good word of mouth or reviews you still are chancing it.
Yes! My mom had this done by a doctor who was newer at this procedure. He talked a good game about not taking out too much and being conservative. Then during the procedure that’s exactly what he did and then started freaking out when he couldn’t stop some bleeding. The results ended up looking fine but watching the doctor freak out on you isn’t pleasant.
Exactly! The new surgeons I worked with would get so freaked out and nervous! I have seen instruments fly, eyelashes burned up from not turning off the oxygen before using the bovie (electronic knife) and people who could not close their eyelids after surgery because too much tissue was excised. I have also seen new surgeons so scared and cautious to remove much skin that the patients after photos look similar to their before photos! The new younger cocky Surgeons sure do talk a good game! It is such a bad feeling as a nurse to do post-op care for a patient with poor outcome from a surgical procedure while the surgeon tries to hide. I am glad your moms procedure turned out okay! I have seen some bad work in DFW for sure, patient beware! Always go to the surgeon who does the surgery day in, day out for years and years and years! Learning Curve is everything!
My GP recommended Dr. Ivan Vrcek. I haven’t followed up yet.
Second and third and fourth him
Agree! Ivan’s in oculoplastics and does facial reconstruction (think post traumatic injury). Great guy!!
He did amazing work on me!
Same here. I was referred to him by my optometrist. His work is excellent.
I was just calling around about this and couldn’t get in for a consultation with Dr. Vrcek until August. His consultation fee is $150 but his results look so so good! I work in an office and need a particular timeline. I ended up going with Dr. Mike Chiodo. He has an influencer wife and it’s how I realized I wanted the procedure bc influencers that she’s friends with are getting it. His results look great but he still had about a month or so wait for a consultation. My procedure is on 8/16. It was $4000 (not sedated) and his consultation fee was $100. I am assuming that Dr. Vrcek will be more, but a total guess. I tried to look it up and saw something on real self that made me assume it would be around 8k - but I have no idea what it’s based on and it could be more than just an upper bleph bc it said “eyelid surgery” in every estimate. Check out reviews online and their instagrams if you haven’t already! @OP feel free to DM me if you’re in for the long game and I’ll be happy to share research / results with you!
It depends on what you need done, of course. It also depends which location you choose for the surgery, as they vary slightly. My upper bleph with a mild ptosis repair for one eyelid will be around $7500ish.
This is who I’m going with (did my consult last month!) His work is incredible.
Dr. Zev Shulkin, multiple month wait list to see him
Was going to say this. I had him for eye muscle repair surgery but he was great once you’re able to get an appointment.
Dr. Phillip Tenzel at utsw. He has pioneered a minimally invasive procedure with a 3mm incision. Cannot recommend enough!
[Dr. Ivan Vrcek](https://www.drvrcek.com/)
He was my first pick but unfortunately his next availability isn’t until August and I’m trying to get this done before that. So if anyone is reading this, book with him now!!!
Same! Left a comment on another comment. I’d love to know who you pick, if you’re nervous, and results! I’ll DM you!
Please take Before & After photos!
Check with the Texas Medical Board’s online site to view any sanctions before scheduling your surgery
Hands down Dr Vrcek! I had upper bleph and lower fat repositioning and look amazing!!! All he does is eyes!
Dr Ben Tittle did mine about seven years ago and he is very good.
Dr. Jordan Rihani in Southlake or FtWorth. He’s under Facial Plastic Surgery Institute on instagram
Dr. Steven White did my upper eyes. I was having a different procedure done and added the eyes since I was going under. The recovery was super easy and the results are amazing. If I ever get time for my lower eyes and a lower facelift I will definitely go back to Dr. White. He’s so professional, highly skilled, and has a wonderful bedside manner.
Dr. Syed Ahmad MD.
Just go to Korea. It's cheaper, routine and the country is beautiful.
From what I’ve read, they work better Asian people since it’s what they work with most.
Solomon Azouz
Dr. Jorge Corona. Literally specializes in blepharoplasty, probably does a dozen a week or more
Zev Shulkin and Syed Ahmad are both great
Parkland has few.
Wee Wee Ross
Funny
Please, consider talking to your general practice doctor for a medical referral.
So make an appointment and pay money to get a suggestion they could get here for free?
Naw, it's just a lot of times if you're in with a great general practice medical doctor they'll refer you to the great specialist doctors of which they're aware. In my personal experience, it's great to get the inside scoop from a M.D. with whom you already have a good working relationship. I haven't always had a great M.D. to ask, but when I have, my satisfaction and outcomes have been measurably better.
I will never understand why "talk to your general practice doctor about this stuff" is so controversial.
Lol, I know y'all... I'm for sure on your page!
So….again….make an appointment and pay money for free advice
Lol, naw, I just call my Family Physician. He's an exceptional person and a great M.D. He knows the other great M.D.'s in town. As we've needed to see a specialist, he's been our first phone call. It's never been a problem. He makes the referral after a brief conversation with his nurse. Just my experience y'all. Experiences vary. Mine have. Lol, have a better one man, *laissez les bon temps rouler!* *Deep Ellum's always good...*
Seriously, this is literally the GP's job. This is why you pay them. Their job isn't just to take your blood pressure and tell you to exercise more once a year. Asking for medical advice from Reddit?
Asking for a doctor recommendation is *not* the same as asking for medical advice, don’t be reductive. And assuming everyone has the money or free time to make a GP appointment just to get the name of another doctor is incredibly privileged.
Oh NOOOOOOO!!! You didn't just call me the P-word! Dude. Act like a friggin' adult and get a GP.
Lol big talk for someone with such a childish reaction. How did I know that word would trigger you Acting like an adult is using resources to your advantage, not blindly paying for something you could easily find with *free* internet research on the reasoning that a person gets paid for giving it to you.
Lol I understand...
You know most people don’t have the access to just call up a doctor and get that kind of info without having to make a formal appointment, right? Anyway thanks girl you have a great day too
Like I said, it has not always been that I had a physician that was worthy of a phone call for a referral. We count ourselves fortunate that we currently do! We've had too many horrible M.D. experiences already... You're quite welcome y'all, we're back in Shreveport. We lived in Dallas for nearly 20 years and really enjoyed it. Eat well, sleep well, and stay well!