Solutions For Hooded Eyelids

Your eyelids do more than protect your eyes from dust, wind, and sunlight. They give your eyes their shape and appearance and can affect how your face looks.

There are several ways to alter the aesthetic appearance of hooded eyelids. Injectables, upper blepharoplasty, or a brow lift surgery can help address your upper eyelids. upper blepharoplasty, or a brow lift surgery can help address your upper eyelids.

If your hooded eyelid restricts your vision you may be able to claim a Medicare subsidy for eyelid surgery if you meet the strict criteria.

Dr Hunt and Dr Maryam perform surgical and non-surgical eyelid procedures in Sydney NSW.

What Are Hooded Eyelids?

Hooded eyelids, or ptotic eyelids, are eyelids that have extra folds of skin on the eyes. Droopy upper eyelids can obscure your eyesight. If your eyelid skin sags all the way down and covers the pupils, it can make your eyes narrower and block your peripheral vision.

What Causes Hooded Eyelids?

The cause of hooded upper eyelids can include:

• Ageing: this is the most common cause of eyelid ptosis and hooded eyelid appearance. Your eyelids are constantly exposed to the effects of gravity, sun rays, and the constant movement of the eye blinking. That’s why, as you age, your eyelid skin starts to stretch and the muscles supporting it become weaker
• Congenital (since birth): babies can be born with one or two droopy eyelids. This happens when the levator muscle that’s supposed to hold the eyelid up doesn’t develop properly
• Eye injury: the nerves in the eye can become damaged if you get hit in the eye or if you wear eye contact for a long time
• Eye surgery: you may get hooded eyelids after LASIK, cataract, or glaucoma eye surgery. But it’s usually temporary
• Anti-wrinkle injections: it’s possible to get droopy eyelids as a consequence of anti-wrinkle injections if some of it affects the muscles that control your upper eyelids – a temporary complication called “Dropped Brow”
• Underlying medical conditions: some of the common medical conditions that can cause droopy eyelids are: Myasthenia Gravis, eyelid tumour, eye infection, stroke, or a brain tumour

When Should Hooded Eyelids Be Treated?

Some people find the skin laxity of their eyelids barely noticeable and it is not bothering them.

For other people, saggy upper eyelids can become troublesome when they cause the following problems:

• Aesthetic problems: lax skin of the eyelids can make your eyes look puffy and uneven. Also, squinting too much makes your eyes look smaller and more wrinkled. Moreover, a lot of people with hooded eyelids tilt their heads back while they’re speaking so they can see better.
• Vision problems: if the eyelid drops too much, it can obstruct the pupils, block the vision, and make things look blurry
• Dry eyes: saggy eyelids can’t keep your eyes as moist as they should be. This can make the eyes become dry and irritated
• Headaches: eyelids that obstruct your vision can make you squint to see better. Squinting for a long period of time can strain the muscles around your eyes which can lead to headaches

Your surgeon will investigate if your eyes have an underlying problem especially if you noticed other symptoms like migraines and headaches since the hooded eyelids started.

How Do You Fix Hooded Eyelids?

The outcomes shown are only relevant for this patient and do not necessarily reflect the results other patients may experience, as results may vary due to many factors including the individual’s genetics, diet and exercise.

Sometimes, hooded eyelids resolve naturally on their own. Other times, it may need intervention.

There are surgical and non-surgical options to treat the undesirable look of the eyes depending on how severe the eye drooping is. Dr Hunt and Dr Maryam will assess the treatment option that will give you the best results.

Surgical Options for Hooded Eyelids

The surgical treatments for hooded eyelids can offer a more permanent solution for the sagging skin of the upper eyelid. Surgical eye lifting is considered the standard treatment for hooded eyelids. It offers more durable results. The options include:

1. Upper Blepharoplasty surgery

To address the eye appearance caused by lax skin of the upper lids, Dr Hunt and Dr Maryam perform a plastic surgery called upper blepharoplasty. Blepharoplasty is an efficient and durable solution for hooded eyelids. It provides more permanent results and an aims for improvement in appearance and vision.

During an upper eyelid lift (blepharoplasty), the levator muscle controlling the upper lid is tightened and the eyelid is lifted into the desired position. Your surgeon also can remove excess skin and fat from your upper eyelid.

Lifting the skin of the eyes can also improve your vision. Blepharoplasty surgery can also be done in children with lax eyelid skin to prevent lazy eyes.

2. Brow Lift surgery

An upper facelift (rhytidectomy), also called a forehead lift or brow lift, is another surgical treatment that can lift eyelids.

A brow lift involves lifting the deep forehead muscles and overlying skin to bring the whole upper face up. It can be done alone or in combination with a blepharoplasty to lift the eyelids and forehead together. This is usually done using an endoscopic technique through the same small incision above the eyelids. By lifting the forehead muscles, your surgeon can pull the eyelids in tandme. A brow lift can also get rid of eye wrinkles and smoothen the skin around your eyes.

The eyes are very delicate organs and the skin around them is one of the thinnest skin areas in your body. Dr Maryam and Dr Hunt have the training and experience in eyelid surgery that enables them to address your hooded eyelid problems.

Non-Surgical Methods to Help Address Hooded Eyelids

If the concern is minimal, non-surgical treatments may provide good results. Treating lax skin of the upper eyelids without surgery can be done using:

1. Injectables – Anti-wrinkle Injections

An anti-wrinkle injections brow lift can be done by injecting products containing botulinum toxin into the skin surrounding your eyes. The substance relaxes the muscle that’s pulling your eyelids down. This relieves the heaviness from the eyes and allows your upper eyelid to lift back up. Anti-wrinkle injections can lift some of the lax skin and flatten wrinkles around your eyes.

2. Injectables – Dermal Fillers

Eyelid fillers are another non-surgical treatment that may offer fast results. It involves small injections of fillers, like Hyaluronic acid, into the upper eyelids or brow. The fillers aim to give your eyelids more volume and plump up their appearance. Hyaluronic acid and other eye fillers can help address certain areas on your eyes. However, their results aren’t permanent and you might need repeated injections to maintain the desired results.

3. Special Eye Glasses

Your doctor may recommend that you wear glasses with special crutches to deal with eyelid ptosis. The crutches can lift your eyelids to help you see and read better if you want to avoid eyelid surgery. Eyelid crutches are effective for temporary hooded eyelids that don’t droop too much.

4. Home remedies for Hooded Eyes

There are a few temporary home remedies you can try such as:

• Teabags: chamomile tea bags are suggested as a common hooded eyelid natural remedy. The chamomile can reduce the inflammation around the eyes giving them a brighter appearance
• Chilled cucumbers: the cooling effect of the cucumber can make your eyes look refreshed and energetic. Cucumbers also contain vitamin C and folic acid that can stimulate cell growth and help get rid of puffy and tired eyes naturally.
• Iced water: the cold temperature can tighten the skin and effortlessly treat mild eyelid sagging

What’s the Optimal Solution for Hooded Eyelids?

There isn’t one standard treatment for hooded eyelids. The best treatment for saggy eyelids will depend on your specific condition, if they’re causing you any vision problems, and what aesthetic goal you hope to achieve. If your upper eyelids are only of minor concern, anti-wrinkle injections or hyaluronic acid injections may be a suitable option for you.

You may benefit more from an upper eyelid lift (blepharoplasty) if you want a more permanent solution for the significant amounts of skin laxity of your upper eyelids. On the other hand, a brow lift may be more suitable for you if you have lax skin of the upper face and eyebrows that you’d like to lift. An upper facelift (rhytidectomy) can alter the appearance of your eyebrows and also address how your eyelids look.

During your consultation, Dr Maryam and Dr Hunt will give your eyes a thorough evaluation and plan an eyelid treatment option that is most suitable for your particular case.

Is It Possible to Prevent Hooded Eyelids?

Hooded eyelids are a natural process that happens with age. And although you cannot prevent it, you can still slow it down. Avoid things that make your eyes age faster like smoking, too much sun exposure, and staying up too late.

Getting early treatment for your hooded eyelids can help you prevent serious vision problems.

FAQs about Hooded Eyelids

Can you lift the eyelids without surgery?

• Although you could add volume to the eyelids and plump them without surgery using fillers or injectables, many aesthetic injectors recommend a plastic surgeon perform a Blepharoplasty when they can no longer use filler or anti-wrinkle injections to lift the upper eye.

Can hooded eyes cause headaches?

• Hooded eyelids can drop down to the pupils and obscure your eyesight. As a result, you may have to constantly squint in order to see better. The constant squinting constricts the muscles around your eyes and forehead which can cause headaches.

Does weight gain cause hooded eyes?

• As you gain weight, fat accumulates in different parts of your body. One of those parts can be your eyelids. Fat deposits may accumulate under the skin of your upper eyelids weighing them down. Consequently, the eyelids become heavy and droop over the eyes.

Are hooded eyelids uncomfortable?

• The extra layers of skin that droop down can be heavy on the eyes and cause them discomfort. They can also make it harder for you to see, making you constantly tilt your head backwards even during a conversation. Moreover, saggy eyelids can make your eyes dry which can cause irritation and discomfort.

Further Reading about Surgical Solutions for Hooded Eyelids

• Read Dr Hunt’s Blepharoplasty Surgery page
• Read Dr Hunt’s Brow Lift Surgery page
• See Dr Hunt’s Real Blepharoplasty Patients Before and After Photos
• Read Dr Hunt’s blog about Eyelid Rejuvenation Options

Medical References about Correction of Hooded Eyelids

• Ptosis – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf
• Ptosis: causes, presentation, and management
• Ptosis Correction – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf
• Blepharoplasty Ptosis Surgery – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf

About Dr Jeremy Hunt – Plastic Surgeon

Dr Jeremy Hunt is a specialist plastic surgeon performing breast, body, face and nose surgery in Australia.

He is a member of FRACS & ASPS and has over 20 years of experience providing plastic surgery in Sydney.

Dr Hunt’s personal, one-on-one service and attention to detail has ensured that thousands of women and men from the Sydney & Wollongong NSW area and across Australia have received high quality surgical care.

Dr Hunt’s qualifications and education

Dr Jeremy A Hunt MBBS FRACS graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine degree from Sydney University in 1990 and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and member of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgery. He completed a Fellowship at the prestigious University of Texas in the United States, where he learnt from some of the world’s very best plastic surgeons.

Next Step – Make an Enquiry or Request a consultation with Dr Hunt

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• Find out more about pricing, medical payment plans and paying for your surgery
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• Make an Enquiry or Request a consultation with Dr Hunt

Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health professional.