If you have never experienced it before, you might be surprised to learn that eyelids can turn toward or away from your eye. This is called eyelid turning. It’s a medical issue that can create problems for your eyes, and many people suffer from it without understanding the problem. If you’ve noticed chronic eye irritation and you don’t know the cause, this might be it. Stick around to learn more about eyelid turning and how it can be treated. It could hold implications for your daily quality of life.
What Is Eyelid Turning?
Eyelid turning repair is a minimally invasive eye surgery that can restore the shape of your eyelid after it turns either inward or outward. When such changes occur, your changed eyelid can increase eye irritation. Eyelid turning alleviates this problem by fixing the issue at the root cause. There are two types of eyelid turning that can be treated with this procedure: entropion and ectropion.
Entropion
Entropion describes an eyelid that has turned toward the eyeball. As a result of this shift, the eyelash line is angled more toward the eyeball than normal. This causes eyelashes to get in the eye more often and leads to chronic irritation.
Entropion is fixed with a corrective procedure that uses a small graft or skin tissue inserted under the skin. This insertion tightens the skin and muscle in the eyelid to stop the turning. The result restores the original eyelid shape, alleviating irritation.
Ectropion
Ectropion is the opposite problem—where the eyelid turns away from the eyeball. When this happens, your eye is more exposed because the eyelid does not cover and protect it as well as before. The result is typically drier eyes and chronic irritation from insufficient eyelid protection.
A similar procedure fixes ectropion. Your doctor will still use a graft or tissue insertion. This tightens the tendons that usually prevent the eyelid from turning up. Once the tendon issue is fixed, the eyelid shape returns to normal, and the problem is solved.
Schedule Your Appointment Today
If you think you might have turned eyelids or have any other eye issues, you can contact Rizzuto Eyelid & Facial Plastic Surgery today. You can call our Providence office at 401-274-6622. You can also contact us online to schedule an appointment.