How much can creams help?

Creams are used in the therapy of the drooping eyelids primarily to support the skin and tissue. Often aging processes and hormonal influences are the reason for the drooping eyelids. The active ingredients contained in the creams can counteract these processes and thus strengthen connective tissue and skin.

This is mainly achieved with moisturizing creams. This contributes to a better regeneration of the tissue and thus slows down the structural changes on the eyelids. In most cases, however, the nourishing creams are not a permanent solution for the treatment of drooping eyelids.

Can hyaluronic acid help?

Hyaluronic acid is an active ingredient that is supposed to give more strength and structure to the different tissues of our body. Since the drooping eyelids are often based on weak connective tissue, hyaluronic acid can help against drooping eyelids. However, depending on how rigorously they have been tested, different products have different efficacy and side effect profiles. Hyaluronic acid preparations are often not subject to the strict tests of the German Drug Law and should therefore be selected with caution. Nevertheless, there are many preparations that alleviate the symptoms of drooping eyelids even over a longer period of time.

Why can visual field restrictions occur?

Visual field restrictions can often occur in the context of drooping eyelids. The reason for this is that especially when looking upwards, the eyelids cannot be raised far enough. As a result, the pupil moves faster behind the eyelid and thus prevents a clear upward view.

How severe the visual field restrictions are can be determined with the help of so-called visual field perimetry. In this process, optical signals (usually lights) are displayed in a certain area and must be recognized by the person concerned. In this way, parts of the visual field that can no longer be seen can be quickly located and narrowed down.

Operation of drooping eyelids

After exhausting other therapeutic possibilities (therapy of hormonal diseases, stress reduction, abstinence from alcohol, nicotine, etc. ), surgery is the means of choice to eliminate the drooping eyelids in the long term. For this purpose, an incision is made in a crease of the eyelid under local anesthesia using a scalpel or laser.

Through this incision, excess tissue can be removed from the eyelid. Usually, fat and muscle tissue is removed first, followed by a tightening of the skin of the eyelid. Afterwards the incision can be sutured again, ideally in such a way that the resulting scar lies exactly in a natural fold of the eyelid.

In this way, the operation can be performed without cosmetic restrictions. However, an operation does involve risks. For example, there may be pain, swelling and postoperative bleeding, and some people have an allergic reaction to the anesthetic.

In addition, structures directly on the eye can be injured, which in the worst case can lead to blindness. Excessive formation of scar tissue can worsen the aesthetic result. Overall, however, surgery of the drooping eyelids is a frequently performed and proven treatment method, so that complications are rarely expected.

You can find out here which invasive and non-invasive methods are available for eyelid surgery: Surgery of drooping eyelids – You should know that!or Eyelid Straightening – There are these therapy formsAn operation costs, depending on where it is accomplished, between some hundred euro up to 2500 euro. The type of operation (classical operation with scalpel vs. laser technology) plays a role as well as the size of the operation (only drooping eyelids, possibly plus tear sacs and/or lifting of the eyebrows). If surgery is required due to a medical indication such as visual field restrictions or dry eyes, the health insurance company will cover the costs of the standard surgery.

Slip-lid surgery for purely aesthetic reasons, on the other hand, must be paid for by the affected persons themselves. Ideally, the health insurance company should be consulted prior to the operation to clarify the assumption of costs. This is especially true for affected persons with private health insurance or private supplementary insurance.