Can Lasik Cause Eyelids to Sag?

I have never seen this and cannot think of a scenario where this would happen. There are some reports of steroid eyedrops causing a temporary relaxation in the eyelid muscle, which could lead to a slight lid lag. We do use steroid drops post LASIK for a brief time, but, again, I have not seen this as a side effect.

LASIK per se is not the cause of sagging eyelids but having LASIK might be. How can this be so? It is because for LASIK there is a lid clamp that opens the eyes widely and it can stretch the lids in a way to cause ptosis or droopy eyelids although this is a rare complication. This is one more reason why I like the all laser method of doing LASIK. In particular we are using the newest Zeiss techology called VisuMax which only requires a very slight opening of the eyelids to accomplish the... more

LASIK, and any other type of ocular surgery, CAN cause the eyelids to droop. This is a (rare) complication called ptosis. It is thought to be a possible side effect of the eyelid clamp used to keep the eye open. With cataract surgery (not LASIK), studies have shown a risk to be generally less than one percent. Note that hard and rigid contact lenses can also cause this. Ptosis is a change in position (a dropping) of the eyelid margin. If you are describing more skin and fat overhanging... more