Do your eyelids look droopy or saggy? Does it feel like you look older than you are?
You may be a good candidate for eyelid surgery. Eyelid surgery is quite common and can treat several different conditions. While eyelid surgery can be purely cosmetic, it can also serve a significant medical purpose.
To better understand what eyelid surgery is for, keep reading to learn about some common conditions that can affect the eyelids and find out if you could benefit from having eyelid surgery!
Ptosis
Ptosis is one of the most common conditions that can affect the eyelids. It occurs when either the upper or lower eyelids, or both, droop.
Ptosis is common in children and can be congenital. In children, it’s usually caused by muscle weakness. It’s often accompanied by amblyopia, also known as lazy eye.
In adults, ptosis is often a simple symptom of old age. As you get older, your muscles can weaken, and your skin becomes less elastic.
When the skin loses its flexibility, it causes most recognized signs of old age, like wrinkles. With wrinkles often comes having droopy or saggy eyelids.
Sometimes, ptosis in adults is seen as solely a cosmetic issue, but having ptosis may lead to visual problems. If your upper eyelids droop, it can narrow your field of vision. In these cases, having your ptosis corrected through eyelid surgery can improve your vision.
Other Eyelid Problems
Although ptosis is one of the most common reasons for eyelid surgery, it isn’t the only one. Some other eyelid-related conditions that may benefit from surgery include:
Growths and Lesions
You may have growths on the eyelids. Benign growths like styes go away on their own over time, but others may need excision.
Cancerous growths almost always need to be excised. Having these growths removed can be tricky and may involve reconstruction afterward to give the eyelids a regular appearance.
Ectropion and Entropion
Ectropion and entropion occur when the eyelids angle outward or inward, respectively. Having the eyelids angle inward can irritate the surface of your eye as your eyelashes rub up against it.
Having them angle outward can leave the area below your eye more vulnerable and prone to infection.
Blepharospasm
Everyone has eye twitches sometimes, but blepharospasm is when you have chronic, frequent eye twitching. Not only is this uncomfortable, but it can cause significant visual issues when your eye closes whenever it twitches.
Eyelid Surgery
If you have any of the conditions above, eyelid reconstructive surgery can correct them. If you have ptosis, you may undergo a procedure called blepharoplasty.
A surgeon removes excess skin and fat from the upper and lower eyelids during a blepharoplasty. A blepharoplasty may be purely cosmetic, especially when done only on the lower eyelids.
Having blepharoplasty for cosmetic reasons is still valid for undergoing oculoplastic surgery. But when you have a blepharoplasty or other eyelid procedure performed to help your vision, health insurance may cover it partially or entirely.
Your surgeon can use certain surgical techniques to reposition the eyelids for eyelid alignment issues, like ectropion and entropion. These techniques include removing skin and tissue and using skin grafts where necessary.
When treating blepharospasm, there’s a surgery called a myectomy. During a myectomy, a surgeon removes specific nerve tissue and muscles that cause the eye to twitch.
There are many different forms of eyelid surgery. Which eyelid surgery you undergo will depend on the eye condition or if you have an eyelid procedure for aesthetic reasons.
Many people who suffer from eyelid conditions can benefit from eyelid surgery, both medically and cosmetically.
Who is a Good Candidate for Eyelid Surgery?
If you suffer from any of the conditions mentioned earlier, whether you’re experiencing visual problems, discomfort, cosmetic concerns, or any combination of the three, eyelid surgery may very well be for you.
To have oculoplastic surgery, you should be in good health. Certain medical conditions, especially autoimmune conditions, can interfere with your ability to heal after having an eyelid procedure.
Some neurological conditions can also be an issue if you’re having surgery dealing with nerves surrounding the eye. Be sure to disclose your complete medical history to your surgeon when you go in for your consultation. Knowing your entire medical history will allow them to determine if eyelid surgery is safe for you.
No matter how minor, you should be fully aware of all the risks of having any surgery. If you’re a good candidate, eyelid surgery tends to be very safe.
All surgical procedures come with some degree of risk. Be sure you discuss these risks with your surgeon before undergoing any procedure, and make sure you have the right expectations going into surgery.
If you’re in otherwise good health and have healthy expectations, the chances are good that eyelid reconstruction is for you. Schedule an appointment today at New England Eye Center in Boston, MA, to talk to one of our oculoplastic specialists about your eyelid condition to see if we can help.