Asymmetric eyelids. Left eye appears to bulge out. What can I do?

Question

Hello, The asymmetry in my eyelids have always bothered me.  For a while I blamed it on ptosis, and have been planning to consult an ophthalmologist about it.  But the more I look at photos,the less I think such a procedure would help.  Take a look at my photo.  My left upper and lower eyelids appear 'off' relative to the right eyelids, but not to a great extent.  This gives me a wide eyed look that looks especially uncanny in photographs, because the asymmetry is so glaring.  My friends notice that my eyes appear bulged much like Steve Buscemi's.  I notice this myself in photographs and have spent a while trying to find out why.  Eventually I realized that the 'hooded skin' of my left upper eyelid (the eyelid to your right in the photo I attached)  doesn't cover it as much as the hood of my right eyelid does.  This gives them a 'froggy' or 'doll's eye' look.  On a whim I googled up 'eyelid fillers' hoping there was a procedure to fill this eyelid hood with fat, and lo and behold, these procedures do exist.  I'm posting here to get some advice.  Am I wrong in thinking that the eyelid hood needs fat fillers? Or is this just another case of ptosis and should I go with the surgery to correct it? The photo doesn't do my condition justice.  Believe me in that the left eye appears really bulged sometimes, unless I willingly scrunch up brow to make my upper eyelid fat cover it.  Thank you for reading.

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD · Answer

I think your eyes look fine, what little of them you have shown us.Please be very careful that you do not over educate yourself into trouble.  I see it all the time.  You have such a good idea of what you need that you find someone to do just that even if it is not actually the right thing.Yes there are websites that talk about placing fat pearls in the upper eyelids to create volume.  You would not know from these websites that many, many of these surgeries can create horrible complications.  Think of it this way, the most important job of an upper eyelid is opening and closing.  Each piece of grafted fat forms scars.  With enough scar tissue the eyelid is no longer able to properly open and close.Please be careful out these, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Stuart H. Bentkover, MD (retired) · Answer

You need to consult an occuloplastic surgeon.  Part of it could be ptosis and perhaps some proptosis (bulging).  Thyroid function can affect this too.

Robert T. Buchanan, MD (retired) · Answer

There are a number or things that can be done to even the eyelids from asymmetric surgery to, as you discovered, fillers or fat. You must also remember that everyone has asymmetry and, sometimes, nothing can be done to correct this. Unfortunately the picture you provided is of such low resolution that I can give no further advice. You need to just see a board certified plastic surgeon who specializes in the eyes or an ophthalmic plastic surgeon who specializes in the external lids.

Asymmetric eyelids. Left eye appears to bulge out. What can I do?

Answers (3)