Droopy eyelid condition doesn’t pose significant risks to your health. The primary concern health-wise will be if it affects your mental health by lowering your self-esteem.
In this case, you may need to see a board-certified plastic surgeon to correct it, so you can enjoy the benefits of a boosted self-esteem. There are different ways you can get ptosis.
If you have had this condition from childhood it, chances are high you were born with it. If you get it in adulthood, it may have been caused by damages or injuries to nerves controlling your eyelids.
You may also have gotten it from a disease that weakens your eyelid ligaments and muscles. Some people get it with age, so if you are noticing that your eyelids are getting droopy and your skin has also increased in laxity, your ptosis is most likely due to old age.
In this case, it would result from the weakening of the muscles and skin around your eyes. If you’re getting these symptoms after a cosmetic treatment like Botox injections, you could be dealing with the side effects of that treatment. Finally, eye tumors may also make you develop a droopy eyelid condition.
Can Droopy Eyelids Cause Double Vision?
Double vision is a condition of the eye that would make you see two images when you look at an object instead of seeing just one. It may affect just one or both of your eyes.
You may not have any symptoms other than drooping of the eyelids, which may only affect your appearance if you have uncomplicated ptosis. That implies that you may get double vision on its own or a manifestation of another condition like ptosis if it is severe.
Therefore, if you are beginning to notice double vision when you’ve confirmed that you have ptosis, the double vision may be a symptom of ptosis. The other ptosis symptoms that may come with double vision include;
● Forehead and Eye Fatigue
Most people who have ptosis experience fatigue around the forehead and eyes. This effect results from the extra work which the neighboring muscles are forced to do to compensate for your drooping eyelid.
Ideally, your eyebrows will strive to remain raised to lift your eyelid. Over time, it would cause the muscles in your forehead and eyelid to get exhausted.
● Watery or Dry Eyes
Protecting your eyeballs from dirt and other external elements which may injure them is one of the primary roles of your eyelids. Now, if it can’t close naturally or frequently as it should be, your eyes may dry out, and this may cause irritation. Your eyes would also be watery due to the increased production of tears to maintain the normal balance and manage the effects like dryness and irritation in your eyes.
● Struggling to Blink or Close your Eyes
If your droopy eyelid condition is due to a neurological disorder like myasthenia gravis that affects your eye muscles or nerves, you may experience difficulty blinking or closing your eyes. This effect usually results from the failure of muscles and nerves that aids in closing and opening the eyes.
How Ptosis may affect your Vision
The most common effect of ptosis is vision obstruction. When the muscles that should be keeping your eyelids held up begin to relax, your eyelid may hang down over your eyes.
This way, ptosis may partially or fully obstruct your vision by covering your eye pupil. The drooping eyelids may also cause blurry vision. Here are a few more vision problems that may be caused by ptosis.
● Amblyopia
Amblyopia is a major cause of poor vision among patients diagnosed with congenital ptosis. According to this 2013 study, around 1 out of 7 patients with congenital ptosis have amblyopia.
In this case, ptosis may contribute to the development of amblyopia due to occlusion of the patient’s visual axis, which is the most common cause of amblyopia among patients who have congenital ptosis. Congenital ptosis is a droopy eyelid condition that’s present from birth.
● Squinting
This is a symptom that’s likely to come with severe ptosis. It is identified by tilting the head back to be able to see clearly.
This ‘behavior’ would most likely be triggered by extreme sagging of your eyelids such that they block or cause some level of obstruction on your pupil. In an attempt to get clear vision, you may find yourself tilting your head backward. If you do not get your ptosis addressed even at this stage, you may get neck and head complications which would significantly reduce your quality of life.
● Crossed Eyes
Crossed eyes disorder is another vision complication linked to ptosis. Ptosis is linked to crossed eyes because both of them result from muscle malfunction.
The eye muscles that control the opening and closing of your eyes are also the muscles that control your focus, eye movement, tracking, and alignment. Therefore if you get a muscle disorder that affects your eyelid movement, chances are there it may also affect your eyeball.
Can Ptosis Correct Itself?
A considerable fraction of the minor asymmetries observed with congenital ptosis are known to correct themselves within the patient’s first few months after birth. Therefore, there is a chance mild ptosis may correct itself.
However, if you got ptosis after an injury to your levator muscle, old age, or Botox injections that went wrong, your drooping eyelid condition may not correct itself. Therefore, you will need to see an ophthalmologist or oculoplastic surgeon who may suggest ptosis surgery to fix this problem and improve your vision or cosmetic appeal.
There are different approaches to ptosis surgery. The technique used in this case would mainly depend on your levator muscle strength or the severity of your condition.
Alternatively, if you do not wish to go under the knife for ptosis treatment if you are dealing with a severe case of ptosis, your doctor may suggest a non-surgical option known as use of ptosis crutch. This is a moderately invasive procedure considering that this device will be fitted in your eyes to lift the eyelids and improve your vision.
The Takeaway
Ptosis can be managed. Therefore, you shouldn’t let it impact your vision or self esteem. If you wish to consult about ptosis treatment or book an appointment with a qualified doctor, send us an email or call us now.
Allure Plastic Surgery
435 Orchard Rd, #22-04 Wisma Atria, Singapore 238877
+65 6734 9988
