Ptosis of the upper eyelid

Any eye disease can lead to quite serious problems. So ptosis is not only an eyelid edema and an unattractive appearance, it is also a high intraocular pressure. And as we know, increased intraocular pressure can provoke a number of dangerous diseases.

In this article, we will deal with what is ptosis, why it appears and how to treat it properly.

What it is

Ptosis is the descent of the upper eyelid. The eyelid can drop only a couple of millimeters, which will not be very noticeable, or almost reach the edge of the lower eyelid.

External structure of the human eye

Normally, the iris is covered by the upper eyelid by an average of one and a half millimeters, but when this value is two millimeters or more, the presence of ptosis should be suspected.And this disease can affect one eye or two at once. It should be noted that ptosis occurs in both adults and children. Ptosis of the upper eyelid is not just a cosmetic defect.

If it is not eliminated, it will progress and have an adverse effect on the eyesight.

One of the most common eye diseases in children and adults, it's conjunctivitis, how to treat it read here.

If a person throws back his head when he tries to look at something, then this is a characteristic sign of the lower eyelid lowering.

The main types of ptosis:

• Congenital (appears due to underdevelopment of the muscle lifting the upper eyelid);
• Acquired (a consequence of another disease).

Acquired ptosis has several varieties, which are distinguished on the basis of the causes of its occurrence.

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Aponeurotic	It appears in the case when the muscle lifting the upper eyelid is stretched or weakened. Aponeurotic ptosis may be a consequence of physiological aging of the body or the consequence of injuries and surgeries.
Neurogenic	This type of acquired ptosis occurs with lesions of the nervous system, for example, with paralysis of the cervical nerve.
Mechanical	The cause of its occurrence is the deformation of the century.
False	It is also called apparent, as it appears because of numerous folds on the upper eyelid, hypotension of the eyes or strabismus.

Types of lowering the upper eyelid, depending on the degree of severity:

• Incomplete ptosis - the pupil is hidden by two thirds by the upper eyelid;
• Full ptosis - the iris is completely hidden by the upper eyelid;
• Partial ptosis - the eyelid covers only a third of the iris.

According to the degree of damage,

• Unilateral ptosis;
• Two-sided ptosis.

Causes

The causes of the appearance of the ptosis of the upper eyelid depend on whether it is congenital or acquired.

Causes of congenital ptosis:

1. Hereditary predisposition.If one of the parents also had this pathology, then there is a probability that the child may develop badly the muscles of the eyelids.
2. Pathological changes in the optic nerve, which provides a normal position of the eyelid.At the same time, a straight muscle can be affected, but this happens very rarely.
3. Palpebromandibular syndrome.It is rare enough. This syndrome is manifested during chewing (the work of the masticatory muscles), and the eyelid can slightly rise.
4. Short eye gap.This is a fairly rare pathology, usually it affects two eyes at once. A short eye gap is accompanied by a reversal of the lower eyelid.

Before and after surgical correction of the eyelid

Acquired ptosis is manifested much more often than congenital.In this case ptosis has several types. For each of them there are reasons for their appearance:

1. Causes of mechanical ptosis:the effects of scarring the skin of the eyelids, its ruptures, inflammation and tumors, damage by foreign bodies.
2. The causes of neurogenic ptosis:being in a state of nervous excitation for a long time, pathologies of the nervous system, stroke, multiple sclerosis.
3. Causes of myogenic ptosis:excessive load, muscle disruption, trauma, aging of the body.
4. Causes of false ptosis:strabismus, a large number of skin folds.

The most common reason for the appearance of the descent of the upper eyelid is old age. When the body ages, all muscles and ligaments lose their elasticity. Therefore, the skin begins to droop and grow fat cells.

Symptoms

Symptoms of ptosis of the upper eyelid are directly related to the causes of its occurrence.The main manifestations of the lower eyelid depression:

• Irritation, redness, dry eyes;
• Strabismus;
• Limitation of the mobility of the century;
• Lack of ability to completely close the eye;
• Doubling objects before the eyes;
• During the lifting of the eyelid, the head throws back;
• The eye gap is asymmetric;
• Together with the upper eyelid, and raised an eyebrow.

In addition to these basic symptoms, enophthalmos (eye westernization), miosis (narrowing of the pupil) can manifest themselves.

Read more about the causes of redness in this article.

Diagnostics

Diagnosis of ptosis of the upper eyelid is aimed at establishing the causes of its occurrence.It is very important to determine whether congenital ptosis is acquired or acquired.When there are symptoms of this pathology, you need to consult an ophthalmologist.He must assess how much the upper eyelid is movable, determine the size of the crease and muscular strength.

If a patient has a complaint about hypertension, and there are edemas on his eyelids, he needs to be examined complex, that is, it is necessary to check vision, to measure intraocular pressure and to investigate ocular apples.

Additional diagnostic procedures are prescribed if there is a suspicion of a brain tumor, trauma or multiple sclerosis. Therefore, the patient is given a referral to MRI, CT.Treatment of ptosis of the upper eyelid can be prescribed only after a complete diagnostic examination and consideration of all symptoms.

Ptosis removal process

Treatment

It should be remembered that the earlier treatment was started, the lower the risk of serious complications.

Ptosis will not pass itself, its treatment is necessarily required.

Currently, the ptosis of the upper eyelid is treated surgically.The operation can be carried out even for children, but not younger than three years, since up to this age the eye gap and eyelids are not completely formed yet.In the case of infants under three years of age, preventive measures should be taken to avoid the development of complications such as amblyopia or strabismus.To do this, it is recommended to tighten the eyelid with an adhesive plaster, but at night it should be removed.

About this surgical method of treatment of glaucoma will tell this material.

The method of surgical intervention depends on the type of ptosis.

If the ptosis is congenital, then an operation is used to shorten the muscle of the elevator.During its implementation, several seams are applied and the strip of skin is removed. This allows you to make the muscle shorter. If ptosis is acquired, then an operation is performed to shorten the stretched aponeurosis of the elevator muscle.In this case, some of the muscles and skin are removed. These actions lead to a shortening of the aponeurosis, which allows the muscle and eyelid to pull up.On the fifth day after surgery, the sutures are removed. The rehabilitation period of recovery lasts about a week, after which the person returns to the normal rhythm of his life.

Complications

If you do not treat the ptosis of the upper eyelid, then such problems as:

• Inflammation of the hair sac, gland cartilage gland age, subcutaneous tissue of the eyelids, or sebaceous gland.
• Edema of the eyelids and nasal cavity.

There are also postoperative complications:

• Hematomas and swelling.Cold compresses will help to get rid of them.
• The edges of the wound can disperse.The reason for this can be accidental injury, long healing, stress on the seam.
• Scars, cysts.
• Hypercorrection of the eyelids.It is due to eyelid injuries, coarsening of the skin, Graves disease.
• Asymmetry of eyelids and ptosis.
• Chemosis (edema of the conjunctiva) and lagophthalmus (incomplete closure of the eyelids).
• Diplomacy (the doubling of objects).It can occur due to damage to the eye muscles.

The most dangerous complication is an orbital hemorrhage with loss of vision. Although this is a very rare complication, one should be aware that the risk factors for its occurrence are hypertension, taking drugs that dissolve blood clots, a repeated or complicated operation.

Prevention

Stem Ptosis

You can use a variety of pull-up creams.Now there are quite a few of them, they are different in price and efficiency.It should be remembered that the cream is good as a preventive measure or as a remedy for treating the initial stage of the lower eyelid droop. To get the desired effect, you will need to use the cream daily.The side effect of using a pull-up cream is an allergic reaction.Another good preventive tool is physiotherapy and gymnastics. They help to preserve the youthfulness of the skin as long as possible and to stop the development of ptosis.

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How to improve vision at home without resorting to the help of hardware ophthalmology.

Why there are red dots in front of the child read in this article.

What is moderate hyperopia: http://eyesdocs.ru/zabolevaniya/gipermetropiya/srednej-stepeni.html

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conclusions

Ptosis can occur at any age. But do not forget that without proper treatment, the disease can become complicated and lead to unpleasant consequences, so do not postpone the trip to the doctor. Timely diagnosis and treatment of any eye diseases will help to keep eyesight for many years. This also applies to other diseases associated with the organ of vision. For example, untimely treatment of dacryocystitis in adults and children can lead to blindness and atrophy of the eye. Adenoviral conjunctivitis can lead to a number of more dangerous diseases, including blindness.

How to choose the right contact lenses for the eyes, see here. What is dacryocystitis you will learn from this link.