Suffering from droopy eyelids? Here is what you can do

As you start to age you start getting droopy eyelids along with fine lines and wrinkles on your face. As the skin starts to sag around your eyes, it can lower your visibility and affect your vision.

If you see your eyelids sagging more than they should, it can obstruct the pupil and you will not be able to see properly. Sometimes droopy eyelids are not just old age affecting you. It can be caused by other conditions like cancer, stroke, trauma, nerve problems, and many more.

Let us delve deep into this problem and find the prognosis of it in the process.

---

Understanding droopy eyelids

Ptosis or droopy eyelids is a pathological condition that can happen because of underlying medical conditions or just aging. It can be recurring or permanent and some people may also have it as a birth defect - congenital ptosis.

This condition can block your vision or reduce your field of view. Most old people suffer from this as the levator muscle that lifts the eyelid stretches in most cases- this causes the eyelid to fall and they get droopy eyes.

---

The different types of droopy eyelid

• Unilateral - affecting one eye
• Bilateral - affecting both eyes
• Acquired - getting it with time
• Congenital- present when a person is born.

---

Droopy eyelids: Causes

Rubbing your eyes a lot can be a cause (Image by user18526052 on Freepik)

Other than ptosis, you can get this condition because of Dermatochalasis. This happens when you get a lot of fat around your eyes and as a result, they look really heavy. This can affect both your upper and lower eyelids and make you get droopy eyes.

Rubbing your eyes too often, excessive smoking, exposure to UV rays, nerve issues, and diseases like thyroid or diabetes can cause droopy eyes too.

---

What are the symptoms?

You can suffer from migraines or eye pain because of droopy eyelids (Image by stockking on freepik)

• A person suffering from this condition will have watery or dry eyes.
• The person will always look tired because of aching and bad vision because of more stress on the eyes.
• Both your upper and lower eyelids will sag and will affect your vision and visibility.
• One can even get migraines and headaches too because of droopy eyelids.

---

Treating droopy eyes

Cut down on screentime (Image by Francesco/Unsplash)

If you have excess skin, you will require surgery (blepharoplasty) or an eye lift to fix it. This surgery can fix muscle weakening or remove excess fat or skin by reconnecting your eyelids with stitches. The kind of surgery will depend on your condition and the primary cause.

Prevention is better than cure and therefore instead of getting droopy eyes, try and avoid it by not going much in the sun or using proper sunglasses and sunscreen.

You can start watching less TV or spending less time on your phone and do not forget to put on the eye saver mode when you are using these devices. Get proper sleep to make sure that your eyeballs do not look like they are hanging out. Quit smoking if you do not want to get droopy eyes.

---

Go for regular eye checks and tell the doctor if you’re facing any issues while seeing so that they can treat the underlying cause then and there. It’s in the eyes, always in the eyes! So protect them and listen to them.