Get rid of drooping eyelids once and for all

Many people have a predisposition to get drooping eyelids. It runs in their families. They might recall they had an aunt or an uncle, or a parent or a grandparent, who had droopy eyelids and had to use their forehead muscles to lift their eyebrows and try and lift their eyelids.

If the droopy eyelids are quite severe and affect both upper eyelids, there can be a slight compensatory head posture as well with a chin-up position, to enable the person to look out from underneath their eyelids and see well. That’s why you probably want to get rid of drooping eyelids.

Familial ptosis runs in families and often becomes noticeable with increasing age. Congenital ptosis has an onset at birth and is unmistakably present. Familial ptosis can gradually occur in young adulthood pre the age of 45. One large group of patients with droopy eyelids has this because of age and thinning of the delicate eyelid tissues inside the eyelid that lift the eyelid.

There are many things that you can do to help get rid of drooping eyelids such as using your forehead muscles to lift the brows, even using tapes to lift the eyelids, using the chin-up head position as compensation, or also ptosis props on your glasses. However, none of these gets rid of ptosis once and for all.
The first thing you have to do before you start to think about when and how to get rid of drooping eyelids once and for all is to have your eyelids assessed. This is to distinguish whether it is just the muscle that is causing the droopy eyelids through an inherent weakness in the muscle such as congenital ptosis, or a stretching and thinning of the muscle with age, which causes the upper eyelids to droop.

As an oculoplastic surgeon, I will do a full examination to exclude all the other causes of drooping eyelids and then recommend how you can get rid of drooping eyelids once and for all with bilateral upper eyelid surgery.

At the Droopy Eyelid Consultation, I will take a history from you, ask whether there is anyone in your family with a similar appearance, when did the droopy eyelid start, how does it affect you. I will then do 7 things:

1. take measurements of the various functions of the eyelid,
2. take photos of the eyelid in various positions of gaze,
3. examine the eyelids on the microscope (called the slit lamp),
4. look at the surface of the eye, v) ensure a healthy eyelid lining mucosa,
5. confirm a normal tear film and eye,
6. look underneath the eyelid to ensure that nothing is abnormal,
7. check the eyelid and eye movements.

From the above 7 points, I can determine the cause and create the treatment surgery plan for your eyelids. I will then explain to you what the problem is and how you can fix it.
If the upper eyelid moves well, called a good levator function or excursion, I will plan to do the surgery through a small skin incision under local anaesthetic, as a day case here at Clinica London.

The skin incision is hidden in the natural eyelid skin crease and is not noticeable once it heals. It becomes wholly buried in the skin crease with a little fold of skin over it and is invisible from about three weeks after the surgery. A few patients have to have blepharoplasty at the same time as droopy eyelid surgery, which is a reduction of the excess skin and soft, dense tissue. I will advise you if you require blepharoplasty. I will tell you how long the surgery will take and what are the risks and advantages are.

Lastly, I will tell you what it costs. The NHS does not fund cosmetic eyelid surgery. The patient pays for the surgeon, the local anaesthesia, the theatre fee and the post-operative care, before the surgery, as a package price which is all-inclusive.

Droopy eyelids are different in each patient and are individual to you. Hence you have to have your eyelids assessed at consultation before I can tell you how to get rid of your drooping eyelid once and for all with upper eyelid ptosis surgery because each patient is slightly different.