• ARE DROOPING EYELIDS AFFECTING YOUR VISION AND CONFIDENCE?

    As we age, our skin becomes less elastic and begins to sag and wrinkle. You might think that this is only an aesthetic issue, but it can also cause mild to serious vision problems, including dry eyes, sensitivity to light or wind, blocked tear ducts, infections, and even impaired vision.

    UPPER LIDS

    The skin of your upper lid does not loosen, fold, and droop over the eye in a single day. If it did, you would wake up one morning believing that you had gone blind. Over time, as this skin sags and folds, it does encroach upon your field of vision more and more. Eventually, even if you are not concerned about looking old or tired, a procedure will be necessary if you want to keep your full range of vision.

    LOWER LIDS

    While your upper eyelids may droop over your eyes, your lower lids tend to droop and sag away from your eyes. Because gravity is pulling them down and away from your eyes, they can no longer adequately protect the eye. This can result in irritation, infection, and damage to the eye.

    TREATMENTS

    People with sagging eyelids often have a choice, depending upon the severity of the situation. If the stretching and sagging is not severe, a simple Botox or dermal filler injection may fix the problem by filling out the deflated skin and paralyzing the muscles that make the facial expressions that are causing wrinkles and sags.

    These injections take about 10 minutes and require almost no recovery time at all. For minor cases of drooping upper or lower eyelids, Botox is a quick and nearly painless solution. It is not, however, a permanent solution, as the treatments eventually wear off and injections will be required every few months.

    For more severe cases, your eye doctor may recommend blepharoplasty. During this surgery, your doctor will remove the excess skin (as well as any excess fat and muscle) from the eyelids. For upper lids, this removes the flesh hanging in your field of vision. For lower lids, it removes the tissue that’s pulling the eyelid down away from the eye.

 Blepharoplasty is usually an outpatient procedure with a brief recovery time. After the procedure, patients often report full vision recovery and no impairment at all. Patients who undergo blepharoplasty for their lower lids experience great relief from dry, irritated eyes, as well.

    LOOKING AND FEELING YOUNGER

    On top of the benefits to your vision and overall eye health, both Botox and blepharoplasty will make you look younger by eliminating heavy wrinkles and skin folds. You’ll feel younger and healthier as you can see more clearly and with less irritation. At the same time, you’ll notice a major difference when you look in the mirror.

    Poor vision and dry, red, irritated eyes can wreak havoc on your confidence, preventing you from enjoying a lot of your favorite hobbies and activities. After a corrective procedure, you’ll look and feel years younger and a lot more confident, too.

    Posted September 9, 2014 by Silverstein Eye Centers
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