Eyelid Droop

When to consider surgery

If you begin to notice sagging lids, droopy brows or a sunken look about your eyes, you have what doctors refer to as blepharop-tosis, or eyelid droop.

“Muscle dysfunction or thinning, lax tissues and loss of fat can cause drooping eyelids,” says plastic surgeon Robert X. Murphy Jr., M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. “As you age, your muscles loosen and things just go the way of gravity.” Although eyelid droop most commonly occurs with age, it can be caused by nerve problems, trauma or muscle disease.

When your eyelids hang so low they impair your vision, it’s time for eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty). First, see your family doctor to rule out underlying health problems. Then an ophthalmologist or optometrist will assess the severity of the droop with a visual field test. To repair the problem, a plastic surgeon will make tiny incisions along the crease of the eyelid, remove excess skin and tighten up the slackened muscle. The hour-long same-day procedure is done under local anesthesia and is covered by insurance when vision is the issue.

Some people choose to have the surgery at their own expense, to improve their appearance. “Surgery for cosmetic purposes can benefit you if you start to notice heaviness and puffiness in your upper or lower eyelids that makes you look tired, aged or stern,” Murphy says. The cost for two upper eyelids is about $3,000.

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Published from Healthy You Magazine May-June 2007

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