Service

I spent this past Saturday at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department training facility and gun range for my trimester qualification classes. I am frequently asked how I got involved with the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. In 2003, a Department Lieutenant came in to see me for a facelift and we got talking about life, jobs, motorcycles and airplanes. He asked if I would consider joining the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department Aero Squadron as a citizen volunteer. I took the PC 836 law enforcement class and enjoyed a decade of service with the Department as a civilian volunteer pilot in the Aero Squadron. I participated in training exercises (search and rescue), patrolling places like the Dumont Dunes from the air, transporting ballots to San Bernardino from far flung parts of the county on election night and participated in VIP flights. In 2008, I exchanged my propeller aircraft for my jet and found that my services to the department were no longer useful. I considered options and elected to join another unit, which consisted of sworn deputies. In order to qualify, I attend the Sheriff’s Department Academy (every Tuesday and Thursday from 5-10 pm and every second Saturday for about a year!) and, in 2013, was sworn in as a Level III Deputy with the Sheriff’s Specialized Services Bureau – and I am still a member of that unit.
By personal example, my parents instilled in me the ideal of service to the community. Volunteering for one’s community is a deeply meaningful act of service that embodies the spirit of giving back and making a positive difference. When individuals volunteer their time and skills, they become integral parts of the community’s fabric, contributing to its well-being and safety. Volunteering for community organizations like the sheriff’s department not only benefits the community at large but also fosters personal growth, leadership development, and a sense of fulfillment derived from making a tangible impact. It is through the collective efforts of volunteers that communities thrive and become safer, more resilient, and more tightly knit.

Volunteering for the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department

We frequently see patients wishing to improve the eye area. The periorbital area is influenced by the position of the eyebrows, the amount of upper and lower eyelid skin, the amount of protruding lower eyelid fat and the amount of wrinkles in the eyelid area – each issue requires a different treatment to achieve rejuvenation (brow lift, upper lid blepharoplasty, lower lid blepharoplasty, and skin resurfacing by laser treatments or a peel). Let us focus today on the upper eyelid blepharoplasty.
Upper eyelid blepharoplasty is a surgical procedure designed to address excess skin and fat deposits in the upper eyelids, rejuvenating the appearance of the eyes. By carefully removing surplus tissue, this procedure can restore a more youthful and refreshed look to the eyes without altering the distance between the eyelashes and the brows – perfect symmetry can never be achieved!
One of the key benefits of upper lid blepharoplasty is its ability to eliminate droopy, sagging skin that may impair vision and create a tired or aged appearance. By enhancing the contour and definition of the upper eyelids, this surgery can brighten the eyes and improve overall facial harmony.
Upper lid blepharoplasty can be performed in an office setting under local anesthesia or in a surgery center with intravenous sedation, offering flexibility and convenience for patients. With minimal downtime and relatively low risk, this procedure can deliver significant aesthetic improvements and boost self-confidence, making it a popular choice for those seeking to rejuvenate their appearance.

50-year-old female shown here before and after an upper eyelid blepharoplasty procedure, performed in the office under local anesthesia, by Dr. Juris Bunkis. Notice the marked improvement in the heaviness of her eyelids but the continued asymmetry caused by the lower eyelid on the right.

This 35-year-old female presented with another variant, a mild ptosis (drooping of the lash line) on the right side, as well as a skin excess, very low eyebrows and some excess fat in her neck. Because of the multiple things she wished to have improved, we chose to do her procedure in a surgical center under anesthesia. She is shown here, before and after, an upper eyelid blepharoplasty with a right upper lip ptosis repair and a neck liposuction performed by Dr. Juris Bunkis.

This 28-year-old female presented with yet another variant, an upper eyelid without a visible fold (called an “Asian Eyelid” but patients of other ethnicities may also present without a supratarsal fold and benefit from the same procedure). In these situations, skin excess is not an issue – the issue is the lack of a connection between upper lid muscles and the cartilage plate in the lids, which normally gives us the supratarsal fold. In such patients, very little to no skin is excised but the levator muscle is reconnected to the tarsal cartilage plate, creating this pleasing upper lid fold. Dr. Juris Bunkis performed the procedure with the patient under intravenous sedation.

For CA, please call 949-888-9700 or visit www.orangecountyplasticsurgery.com
Or for MA location, call 508-755-4825 or visit www.salisburyps.com

You can write to
Dr. John Compoginis at Contact Us Form
Dr. Staci Compoginis at Contact Us Form
Dr. Deborah Ekstrom at Contact Us Form
or Dr. Juris Bunkis at Contact Us Form