Sagging eyelids and tired eyes? You could have droopy eyelids
If your upper eyelids appear to sag and your eyes look sleepy and tired all the time, you could be suffering from an eye condition called ptosis or droopy eyelids.
Other symptoms of droopy eyelids, which can affect one or both eyes, include eye strain, an ache in the eyebrow region and the tendency to tilt your head back to see properly. At an advanced stage, droopy eyelids can obstruct your vision and cause problems with your daily activities such as driving, reading and walking up and down stairs.
“As we age, our upper eyelid muscles stretch and weaken along with loosening of skin, causing droopiness of the upper eyelid sometimes obscuring vision. This can occur in about 3 to 4 per cent of the population,” says Dr Adrian Ooi, Consultant, Department of Plastic, Reconstruction and Aesthetic Surgery, Singapore General Hospital.
While the most common cause of droopy eyelids is the stretching of the levator muscles that hold up the upper eyelids due to ageing, this eye condition can also be caused by eye trauma and injury to these muscles, or damage to the nerves which control them.
Droopy eyelids in babies and children
Babies and children can also have droopy eyelids (known as congenital droopy eyelids) because of improper development of the levator muscles at birth.
Consult an eye doctor if your child’s eyelids look uneven, if one eye appears smaller than the other, or if your child tilts the chin upward, to see clearly. Children with congenital droopy eyelids are at risk of developing amblyopia, an eye condition which can cause vision impairment if left untreated, and are advised to have regular eye exams.
Treating droopy eyelids
“If it is very mild, possibly some non-surgical tightening procedures can help. These include radiofrequency, ultrasound or laser therapy. Beyond this, only surgery can help,” says Dr Ooi.
Typically, surgery to treat droopy eyelids is an outpatient procedure and takes about 30 to 45 minutes for each eye. The recovery time is one to two weeks during which your upper eyelids may be swollen.
Can droopy eyelids be prevented?
Droopy eyelids are difficult to predict or prevent, says Dr Ooi. But, he adds, eye exercises may help to strengthen the muscles of the upper eyelids.
“Eye exercises, which only help some people, include gradual, incremental closure of the eyelid muscles while supporting the brow, finally shutting them tight for five to six seconds. This can be done for 10 minutes per day,” says Dr Ooi.
You can learn more about droopy eyelids at this public forum about plastic surgery organised by SGH. The forum, organised by the Department of Plastic, Reconstruction & Aesthetic Surgery at SGH, will take place on 2 March (Saturday) from 9am-12pm at the SMU Admin Building.
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