Sensitivity of the Ptosis Eye

The ptosis eyelid doesn't have the ability to protect the eye as well as the good eyelid can protect its eye due to the lesser functioning eyelid. For example, in cold or wind, the ptosis eye tends to water more easily. In bright sunlight, the ptosis eye will squint itself shut. We've had incidences of sunscreen getting into the ptosis eye resulting in severe swelling so we only use the stick sunscreens that cannot run. We try to encourage our son to wear sunglasses often so that he doesn't have to constantly squint that eye shut when out in sunlight. In most pictures taken outdoors, his ptosis eye is completely shut. And, of course, there are days in which his ptosis eye seems to be more droopy than other days; whether this is tiredness or something other. But, for the most part, his eye looks and functions great. And we couldn't be happier.

Photos 12+ months after frontalis sling surgery

Months & now years post-surgery, when our son is looking straight forward (primary gaze) his ptosis eye is almost symmetrical to his "good" eye. However, if he is looking up or down, then his ptosis lid is measurably low or high, thus, different from the good eye. The doctor told us this would be the case going into surgery. When he is really tired, the ptosis eye will severely droop or close altogether, simply because he is not making the effort to lift it. The doctor feels that as he gets older, he will be more cognizant of how his eye looks so he will likely make a more conscientious effort to lift his lid and make it more symmetrical to the other eye. I am attaching pictures of his lid in different positions so you can see what I am trying to describe.

Update on our son's ptsosis: now 3 years old

It has been a long time since I've updated the information on our son's ptosis. He just turned 3 years old. We recently had his eye checked and his vision is now perfect. It took several months for the vision in his ptosis eye to catch-up to his normal following surgery. Supposedly, in 90% of ptosis cases, the ptosis eye catches up right away (within weeks), however, this did not occur with our son. We patched his good eye for a good 6 months following his surgery then eventually his ptosis eye caught up. At 3 years old, they were finally able to do a comprehensive eye exam with him since he could actually read the eye charts now and recite the pictures and his vision was perfect for his age. In terms of his lid itself, the doctor feels that it may be slightly more droopy then when his surgery first occurred, but nothing of any significance. There is no telling whether he will need additional surgery. He will be seen regularly; each time his vision is checked and his lid is measured until if and when we need to take further action. At each visit we bring recent pictures of our son, and this is very helpful for the doctor to see him on different days, his eye at different times of the day (morning, noon, night) and in different environments.