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Heavy eyelid surgery
FOX 26 Anchor Melissa Wilson spoke with one doctor about a surgery being offered for heavy eyelids.
HOUSTON - Hooded, or heavy eyelids can end up being a serious medical problem. When it starts affecting safety and quality of life, it's important to know that many insurance companies will pay for a procedure to repair the problem.
Dawn Leathers can see clearly now for the first time in years.
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"It was affecting my vision! My eyelids were pushing my eyelashes down, and I was having issues seeing peripheral. When driving, to the side. I couldn't really see that well," explains Dawn.
She lived like that for at least 10 years before deciding enough is enough. Doctors say, when it gets to that point, it's actually considered a health concern, not just a matter of physical looks.
"In some cases, it's not just the extra skin that's making the eyelids droopy, but a condition that we call ptosis. In that condition, the lid itself is drooping because of an issue with the elevating muscle of the eyelid. You can just imagine that sort of sleepy, sultry look that people will have when they have the droopy eyelids, and sometimes it happens on both eyelids, and sometimes it happens on only one side," states Dr. Mirwat Sami with Houston Oculofacial Plastic Surgery.
She performed an upper blepharoplasty to help Dawn see better.
"That skin is in such excess, it comes across the pupil, which is how light enters the eye. After surgery, it's an eye-opening experience. That's the thought I hear from every single patient, whether they come in for the aesthetics of it or for the functionality, they always are just so impressed with how much more of the world they can see, how much lighter and brighter everything is," states Dr. Sami.
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The results are dramatic for Dawn.
"I'm not going to tear up when I think about it, life changing. It really is. I know it may seem like something insignificant to someone else, but it's been great. I've really just so grateful that I actually finally did it and I can wear make-up now, and I can actually see it. It's just very liberating, in a way. I don't want to be that grandiose, but it has been great," exclaims Dawn.
When eyelids become extremely hooded, many insurance companies will cover the cost of surgery.
"Typically, the skin, for it to meet insurance criteria of being a functional issue to where it's obstructing your peripheral vision, it requires the skin to be so much in excess that it comes across the lash line and in front of the pupil, or the lid itself needs to be droopy enough to where it's covering and obstructing the top, at least up to 20 degrees of your central and your central visual axis. So, that's a lot of droopiness that occurs and you can imagine how much of the world it's taking away," says Dr. Sami.
"I probably wouldn't have had it done if insurance hadn't paid for it, to be honest, did because I felt like it was affecting my vision. Looks wise, I've always had it. I've grown up this way. So, the looks part of it wasn't really my driving factor," explains Dawn.
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It was her vision that drove her to seek help, but she's happy about her new look too. Dr. Sami says many of her other patients feel the same way.
"They tell me how they don't hesitate to make eye contact because they're self-conscious about either an asymmetry or a sleepy look or a droopy or an uninterested look to their eyelids. I find that is just such a rewarding thing to hear, to change your persona, your self-confidence when you interact with the world, be it at work, at home and social settings, it's powerful," says Dr. Sami.
Recovery after this surgery takes about 10 days, and then final results take up to four months after surgery. Dawn says she was surprised that it wasn't a painful procedure and just put bags of frozen peas over her eyes to reduce swelling for a few days.
Again, if eyelid surgery is just to remove puffiness around the eyes, that's considered an elective procedure and not covered by insurance.
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