Drooping Eyelid – Curing this Disease

What do doctors call this condition? - Prosis

What is this Condition?

A drooping eyelid may be present at birth or develop later in life. It can affect one or both eyes and be constant or intermittent. A severely drooping eyelid usually responds well to treatment, and a slightly drooping eyelid may require no treatment at all.

What Causes it?

If present at birth, a drooping eyelid is genetically transmitted or results from a failure of the levator muscles of the eyelids to develop. This condition usually affects one eyelid.

An acquired drooping eyelid may result from any of the following:

age (involutional drooping eyelid, the most common form)
mechanical factors that make the eyelid heavy, such as swelling or an extra fatty fold
myogenic factors, such as muscular dystrophy or myasthenia gravis
neurogenic (paralytic) factors from injury, diabetes, or carotid aneurysm
nutritional problems, such as thiamine (vitamin B-1) deficiency in chronic alcoholism.

What are its Symptoms?

An infant with a congenital drooping eyelid has a smooth, flat upper eyelid, without the eyelid fold normally produced by the pull of the levator muscle.

A child with one drooping eyelid that covers the pupil may develop a lazy eye from disuse or lack of eye stimulation. A child with two drooping eyelids may elevate the brow in an attempt to compensate, wrinkling the forehead in an effort to raise the upper lid. To see, the child may tilt the head backward.

How is it Diagnosed?

A physical exam shows the severity of drooping eyelid. Additional tests determine the underlying cause.

How is it Treated?

A slightly drooping eyelid that doesn't cause deformity or vision loss requires no treatment. A severely drooping eyelid that interferes with vision or is cosmetically undesirable usually requires surgery to fix the weak levator muscles.

Surgery to correct congenital drooping eyelid is usually performed at age 3 or 4, but it may be done earlier if both eyelids droop. If surgery is undesirable, special glasses with an attached suspended crutch on the frames may elevate the eyelid.

The underlying cause of drooping eyelid also is treated.