If one or both of your eyelids hangs down in a droopy and perpetually relaxed state, this could be lash ptosis. This is a functional condition that can also have a significant impact on facial aesthetics. Not only do drooping eyelids obstruct the line of site, but they can also make a person look sleepy and depressed. When the problem is severe, it can additionally add years to the upper portion of the visage, thereby making the individual look older than he or she really is. Fortunately there are a number of ways to correct this condition. For instance, functional blepharoplasty can lift the affected lids so that these remain in a natural-looking, elevated position. Beyond improving vision, treatments like this one can both restore confidence and boost the patient’s overall looks and marketability.
What Causes Lash Ptosis?
In many instances, lash ptosis is a congenital condition, meaning that it’s something a person is born with. More often than not, patients only need to look to their parents, grandparents, or other family members to identify their drooping lids as a result of genetics. How much the condition is able to affect the individual and his or her vision is largely determined by its severity. Slightly drooping upper lids are often just a cosmetic concern. Once excess eyelid skin causes the eyelids to droop too low, however, this issue can negatively impact a person’s ability to drive safely, operate heavy equipment, and perform complex tasks at work or home. Even simple activities like cooking or putting together a jigsaw puzzle can become unnecessarily challenging. In these instances, and depending upon the amount of vision obstruction that exists, functional blepharoplasty for opening the eyes is often a covered procedure. In fact, many insurance companies will cover other options in lash ptosis treatment, so long as both the problem and the solution are functional in nature.
What Are Some of the Treatment Options for Dealing with Lash Ptosis?
Lash ptosis can be both congenital and caused. Some of the most common causes of lash ptosis include excess sagging skin as the result of the normal aging process, deficiency of elastin in the upper eyelids, and insufficient collagen. Many non-invasive or minimally invasive measures for correcting this problem are designed to address it right at the source. Due to this fact, finding the right product or process can be challenging if patients are unsure of why they’re upper lids have begun to hang low.
This is why it is important to schedule a consultation appointment. In addition to determining the exact problem that you are experiencing, the doctor can also determine its most likely cause. This is done by reviewing your family and medical history, assessing the condition of the muscles and skin around the eye, and considering various lifestyle factors. Collagen induction therapy cannot provide optimum benefits for someone suffering from ptosis as the result of a congenital defect. Moreover, invasive surgery many not be necessary if muscle laxity can be resolved through natural therapies.
The most widely used procedure for addressing lash ptosis is functional blepharoplasty. This should not be confused with and purely cosmetic eyelid lift surgery which can be employed to reshape the eyes, reverse visible evidence of aging, and correct issues with laxity and drooping or sagging skin that are affecting the patient’s appearance. Functional blepharoplasty is instead performed with the overarching goal of improving and expanding the field of vision. The visible results of these two procedures can be much the same, but functional blepharoplasty is less concerned with reshaping and refining the eyes, and more focused on improving the patient’s ability to see clearly. In both cases, the end result is a wide-eyed and alert look, a more youthful and refreshed appearance, and significant improvements in self-confidence.
When Drooping Eyelids Becomes a Functional Problem
More often than not, drooping eyelids is not just a functional issue; it is also a progressive one. This is usually true for people who are experiencing this problem as the result of the normal aging process. If the skin at your upper face area is loose, sagging, and exhibiting other evidence of a general and time-related breakdown of its integrity, you can expect any vision obstruction that you are experiencing to gradually become worse. You may want to seek treatment if the inability to see clearly has resulted in problems with handling work equipment, performing complex tasks, driving, or engaging in any other essential activities. There are no corrective lenses that can fix this functional problem, given that there are actual structural improvements that must be made to the affected area.
Creating Facial Balance
For some people, this is a condition that only affects one eye. This in turn gives the face a lopsided, imbalanced look that’s difficult, if not impossible to correct with cosmetics. In cases such as these, the cosmetic benefits of treatment are manifold. In addition to opening the eyes, refreshing the face, and eliminating a tired and depressed look, these procedures can also create or restore total facial balance. Patients can enjoy greater levels of facial symmetry and dramatically increased confidence.
With just a single drooping eyelid, it is still possible to benefit from functional blepharoplasty, particularly in instances in which one eye is having to work much harder than the other in order to compensate for the vision obstruction. This is sometimes the case when patients are seeing frequent increases in the strength of the corrective lenses, particularly in lenses for the eye that lacks obstruction. Coordinating lash ptosis treatment with both the surgeon in charge of your procedure and your ophthalmologist will allow you to get the most needs-specific plan possible. It is also the best way to determine whether or not your treatment will be a covered one.
Look and Feel Younger
Being able to see clearly post-treatment can make you look and feel younger. Once your excess upper eyelid skin has been trimmed away and lax muscles have been tightened and lifted, you will be able to maintain the wide-eyed look of youth and all of the time. You won’t have to rely on complex makeup application strategies to make yourself look like you’re focused and paying attention. More importantly, given that the eyes are one of the most noticeable features on your face, a short simple procedure can go a long way towards revitalizing your appearance. In an increasingly appearance-conscious and youth-obsessed world, looking younger, feeling younger, and maintaining an alert, wide-eyed look can also make you a lot more marketable in both the professional area and your social circle.
Is Lash Ptosis a Permanent Condition That Always Requires Treatment?
Some people may exhibit the signs of lash ptosis when they have just woken up or when they are feeling especially tired. In these instances, the drooping lid is most likely caused by muscle laxity in the upper lid area. This is common among people with just one drooping eye and it may be possible to correct with non-invasive measures. Once the skin at the upper lid becomes significantly loose and laxity in the nearby muscles becomes extreme, however, it is often only possible to correct the problem through invasive measures that include incisions, tissue removal, and sufficient downtime for recovery. During blepharoplasty, excess skin can be trimmed away and muscle laxity can be corrected. This will in turn make the eye appear wider, and the individual appear more alert. It will also clear the field of vision and have other positive impacts on the patient’s eyesight.
If the Upper Eyelashes Are Facing Downward, Is This Lash Ptosis?
While lash ptosis is generally defined as having a drooping upper lid that obstructs a portion of your vision, there are a number of lash ptosis treatments that claim to correct downward facing eyelashes. These procedures are largely cosmetic in nature. However, much like a severely drooping lid, a thick row of eyelashes that covers the eye can also obstruct the vision. The goal of these treatments is tightening the skin at the upper eyelid while minimizing any laxity in local muscles. These treatments typically require minimal cutting and minimal downtime, if any at all, but they are rarely appropriate solutions for patients with excessive amounts of severely sagging skin. Moreover, given that their benefits are largely believed to be cosmetic in nature, they may not be covered by the patient’s insurance, even if they are capable of providing limited functional benefits. What they will do is eliminate the need for eyelash curlers, and give patients the opportunity to view the world clearly, rather than through the veritable curtains of their own eyelashes.
How to Know if Lash Ptosis Treatment Is Right for You?
The best way to determine whether or not you’re a good candidate for lash ptosis treatment is by scheduling a consultation appointment. This will allow the doctor to determine whether or not the condition you are dealing with is indeed lash ptosis. If your sagging eyelids are obstructing your vision, you will also want to talk with your ophthalmologist to find out whether functional blepharoplasty will be a covered procedure in your case.
There are lots of options in treatment for low-hanging and drooping eyelids. The key to success with these procedures lies in choosing the best one for each individual patient’s circumstances and needs. From diminished collagen and elastin to increasing muscle laxity, and the age-related breakdown of the skin, there are many possible underlying causes. When lash ptosis is determined to be congenital in nature, functional blepharoplasty is often the recommended solution. For superficial manifestations of this issue or instances in which vision obstruction is short-term (such as after a good nap), many non-invasive alternatives may suffice. Get in touch with our team at Luxe Aesthetics in Cary, Greensboro, and Raleigh to learn more about lash ptosis and to find the best possible treatment for reaching your cosmetic and functional goals. Contact us today to schedule your consultation!