My story

I was always told by others that I had intense eyes — dark brown, sharp, with a seriousness that made people pause when talking to me. I didn’t like that people felt that way about my eyes looking this way
as I wanted to be approachable.

I started looking into eye surgery, “It wasn’t invasive”, they claimed — “just threads.” A few strategically placed sutures to lift the outer corners of my eyes, tighten the brows up a bit. No scalpels, minimal downtime.

I found Dr. Taban through Instagram — his page a collage of perfect after-photos, celebrity endorsements, and sparkling testimonials from his other clients. I decided to put down a $5,500 deposit after the consultation, reassured by his charm and a picture of what my face could look like.

The procedure took around 45 minutes.

Within hours, I noticed something was off straight away. My right eye felt dry, unable to fully close. The left brow seemed more elevated than the right. I called his clinic — “normal swelling,” the receptionist told me, followed by “give it a week.”

I waited a week as suggested, but the asymmetry was worse!. My eyelid twitched uncontrollably. One eye watered constantly while the other remained dry and red. Nothing seemed to help, sunglasses became mandatory for me to wear, indoors and out. And at night, I had to tape my eyelid shut just to sleep.

I returned to Dr. Taban, who barely glanced at me before muttering something about “individual healing patterns.” He refused to remove the threads — claimed it was “too soon” and not his fault. When I pushed harder, he ghosted me. His clinic stopped returning my calls. I felt hopeless as this “highly reputable” Dr somehow botched my surgery.

Being desperate for a fix, I saw a real plastic surgeon instead. This one had no Instagram presence, but he had a degree from Harvard university and thirty years in the field. His verdict was blunt: the threads had been placed too deeply and unevenly, pulling on the muscles controlling my eye. The procedure, he said, was marketed like a facial — but done wrong, it could mimic nerve damage.

As expected, the correction would require surgery. Real surgery done correctly. And even then, full recovery wasn’t guaranteed.

I attempted to file a malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Taban, but legal proceedings were slow and eventually didn’t lead anywhere. In the meantime, I paid out-of-pocket for the reconstructive surgery. It helped — slightly — but I still couldn’t blink normally.

Now, when people ask why I never smiles in photos anymore, I answer honestly:
“I can’t. Not with both eyes at once.”

Hope my story helps Frank!