I Believe I Have Ptosis, What is the Most Effective Way to Get Rid of Upper Eyelid Dropping? (photo)

From the photos you sent, the ptosis is pretty obvious. When someone is born with ptosis, it may have gotten a little worse as they got older. If it is a new onset of ptosis, we have to rule out a neurologic cause or any other issue.

In my practice, when people complain that they notice they have droopy lids, I ask them to bring some old pictures. There we see that there has been some drooping in the past. A lot of times, people would compensate by raising their eyebrows and getting their eyes to open. They just don’t notice that as time goes on, the ptosis may get worse. Other things that can be related to ptosis can be eye rubbing or wearing of contact lenses. The first thing that you should do is be evaluated for any medical issue related to ptosis.

Assuming there are no deeper issues causing ptosis, the next step would be pursuing ptosis repair. It’s normal to have slightly uneven eyes as long it’s within 1-2 millimeters. When it becomes more than 1-2 millimeters, then people notice a difference between the eyes. When I do a ptosis correction, I always try to get them as symmetric as possible; within a millimeter is a very good result.

What we typically do in ptosis repair is advance a muscle called levator muscle. This is the muscle that lifts the eyelid. We also shorten the muscle in order to allow the eyelid to come up. During the surgery, we let the patient cooperate by letting them open their eyes. Once the eyelids come up, we can see that the balance, shape, height and contour of the eyes are equal. More than 95% of the time, it comes out ideally to the patient’s satisfaction. There are also a few patients who need enhancement where the eyelid is too low or too high.

Have yourself evaluated by an eye doctor or ophthalmologist, or specifically an oculoplastic surgeon who has a background on ophthalmology and specializes in eyelid surgery to determine whether or not there is a medical issue. If there are no issues, consider a cosmetic or reconstructive type of ptosis operation.  I hope that was helpful, and thank you for your question.

 The pictures do show ptosis of the patient's left upper lid. This is best treated by an   oculoplastic surgeon who can tighten the muscle  inside the eyelid. The incisions can be placed either on the inside of the eyelid or outside of the eyelid  in the natural crease.