EYELIDS, DROOPING LOWER
Description and Possible Medical Problems
As you know by now, although getting older generally means you don’t have as much muscle tone as you once did, it usually is a gradual process and doesn’t tend to affect the body in any harmful way. The muscles that control the eye, like the rest of the body, also gradually lose some of their strength with age. This includes the muscles that control the movement of the eyeballs and help the lenses to focus, as well as the muscles of both the upper and lower eyelids.
When the upper lid starts to lose its muscle tone, it will gradually begin to droop, but this does not usually happen until a person is in her 70s. When the lower lid loses muscle tone, it can begin to turn outward from the eye, a condition called ectropion. It may also sag inward, which can cause the lashes to rub against and irritate the eye. This condition is called entropion. While aging is usually a factor in the development of these conditions because of the naturally diminished muscle tone, they can also be caused by lupus erythematosus, a disease of the connective tissue (see “Rash on the Face” in Chapter 9 for more information about this disease).
Because the eye is more exposed when the lower eyelid sags, it’s more at risk for damage to the cornea. In addition, because the lower lid is slack, the tears that are normally held against the eye have nowhere to go and run out of the eye, which may make it seem as though the affected eye is watering excessively. A sagging eyelid is also more prone to infections.
Fortunately, a sagging lower eyelid is easy to treat. When ectropion or entropion is a by-product of the aging process, your doctor can perform a simple operation under local anesthesia that will return your eyelid to its normal appearance. If it is caused by lupus erythematosus, treating the disease (see “Rash on the Face” in Chapter 9) will help reverse the sagging. In either case, it’s a good idea to see your doctor as soon as you notice that your lower eyelid is beginning to droop.
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Tags: General health