The Quest For Bigger Eyes

There is no question that bigger and brighter eyes is one of the top requests at cosmetic surgery clinics. Although the size of your eyes is mostly dependent on your ethnicity and genetics, there are causes that are correctable by surgery. The improvable causes for small eyes include ptosis, epicanthal fold and hooding. In this article, we will cover on how these can be corrected by eye-opening surgeries and what to expect.

Ptosis Correction Surgery

Ptosis, or droopy eyelids, is a condition where the eyelid muscles are not able to lift the upper eyelids effectively. This may be due to an inborn defect in the eyelid muscles, or due to wear-and-tear with age, leading to muscle weakness. Apart from being a cosmetic concern, ptosis can lead to a number of health concerns, such as visual obstruction, eye strain and fatigue, headaches and neck aches.

Ptosis correction surgery (also known as an eye lift) treats the defective eyelid muscle by repairing the defective or worn out eyelid muscles. Mild ptosis can be corrected using a scarless suture technique. Majority of the time, ptosis correction is performed via an incision placed along the double eyelid fold and downtime is around 1-2 weeks.

Epicanthoplasty

It is common for people of Oriental origin to have an epicanthal fold, the extra skin that folds over the inner corner of the eye and makes the eye look shorter.

An epicanthoplasty surgery lifts and removes the epicanthal fold to uncover the inner corner of the eyes, hence widening the eyes. With the latest redraping technique, the surgical scars, rather than visible, are hidden along inner edges of the eyes.

An epicanthoplasty is commonly combined with an eye-lift (ptosis correction) to further enlarge the eyes.

Hooding

The eyelid skin, being the thinnest skin in the body, is prone to sagging, a condition more commonly known as hooding. Hooded eyes appear smaller because the eyes are partially covered by the loose skin. Upper eyelids are prone to puffiness due to excess fat or water retention, which also decreases the size of the eyes.

During an upper eyelid surgery (or blepharoplasty), excess skin and fat are removed to improve the upper eyelid contour and open up the eyes. Like ptosis correction, the scar is concealed as the upper eyelid fold.