My Drooping Eyelids Are Affecting My Vision: Can You Help?

Drooping eyelids are usually a cosmetic issue, and most treatments that address them are elective. But when sagging skin gets in the way of your vision, it becomes a medical problem, and corrective treatments become critical to your visual acuity and safety. 

If drooping eyelids are affecting your field of vision, you have several nonsurgical and surgical options to address the problem. Our team at Rick J. Smith, MD, located in East Lansing, Michigan, specializes in noninvasive treatments and plastic surgery procedures to restore your eyes and vision. Here’s what you need to know about drooping eyelids and the corrective services we offer.   

Why do eyelids droop?

Drooping eyelids are often called hooded eyelids, but the medical term is ptosis. They happen when the muscles that hold up your eyelids weaken. And since saggy eyelids are a hallmark of aging, younger people with hooded eyes appear older.

Gravity and tugging can also impact the skin around your eyes. If you pull down the skin to apply makeup or rub them aggressively, you speed up the tissue deterioration and end up with saggy eyelids.

Trauma, neurological conditions, and genetics may also be to blame for your droopy lids. Unfortunately, draping skin causes vision problems and can also lead to secondary issues like headaches. 

Treatments for drooping eyelids

We offer several treatments that address drooping eyelids. We help you understand the pros and cons of each so you can choose the best approach. We help you consider all the relevant factors, such as the severity of the problem, your age, your aesthetic and health goals, and the underlying cause of the condition. Here are three possible options:

Juvéderm®

Injectable fillers, like Juvéderm, restore lost volume under the skin’s surface, filling in lines and wrinkles and plumping lips and cheeks. However, in the hands of our experienced experts, Juvéderm can also address some types of sagging skin in the undereye area.

The hyaluronic acid in Juvéderm is the key to improving your drooping lower eyelids. We inject the filler strategically to increase the volume in your lower eyelids and cheeks to diminish the appearance of bags and circles. 

If you have a hollow area under your brow, Juvéderm can fill it and give the appearance of a mild lifting effect. 

Although Juvéderm can’t correct significant drooping due to excess skin, it can treat mild cases of skin laxity and works particularly well with Botox®.

Botox

Botox injections are a great option for correcting hooded eyelids. We highly recommend this treatment if you have a low eyebrow position or slight brow drooping. 

To improve the appearance of hooded eyelids, we inject Botox into the outer edge of your eyebrows to elevate them slightly. This elevation lifts the upper eyelid and reveals a small portion of eyelid skin. 

However, Botox and Juvéderm are temporary solutions for minor cases of hooded eyelids, and the effects gradually diminish and require touch-up treatments.

Brow lift

If the underlying cause of your droopy eyelids is low-hanging brows, then a surgical brow lift is the best treatment. 

How do you know if your brows are to blame? Here’s a clue: If you constantly raise your eyebrows to improve your vision, or if your eyebrows significantly impact the alertness and width of your eyes in the mirror, then your sagging eyelids probably stem from your low brows. 

To perform a brow lift, Dr. Smith makes a small incision in your hairline so the scar won’t be noticeable after healing. He adjusts the tissues and muscles under the skin and pulls the skin upward to reduce forehead creases and reposition your brows.

Knowing the source of your drooping eyelids makes a significant difference in your treatment choice — a brow lift may not be necessary for everyone. 

Let’s discuss which treatment suits you best. Call or click to schedule a consultation with our Rick J. Smith, MD, team; you could be seeing more clearly soon.