Entropion and eyelid problems

The condition in which the eyelid folds inward is called entropion. This can happen for both the upper and the lower eyelid but mostly for the lower one. You may also hear about ectropion in which the patient’s eyelid folds outward. If both eyes have this problem it is called bilateral entropion.

In most cases when an it starts to happen, the patient would feel that his skin or eyelashes have contact with his cornea, so they want to visit an eye doctor. At the beginning of it you may experience pain, discomfort, watery eye, eye swelling and irritation. In the case of entropion sometimes the eyelid folds inward perpetually and sometimes only the time you close your eyes. You should notice that this eye problem mostly happens among the old people (more than 55) and hardly ever for children or young people.

What causes entropion?

Specialists claim that the most common reason of an entropion is the patient’s genetic. But there are some cases that the patient has an extra skin on his eyelid and that would turn inward.

Another reason can be your aging. The aging process causes the skin around your eye area to sag. That is because of the muscles and tendons weakness. We can count the skin scars or injuries as the next reason. Scars can change the skin shape and result this problem. Skin scars can be made by a radiation, injury, during a surgery procedure or by burning. Some infections and spasms might cause it too.

Treatment method

For its treatment the eye doctor would prescribe eye drops to heal the moderate entropion. You should notice that in intense conditions the cornea may get wounded and cause infection. So maybe your doctor suggests a surgery. During the this surgery the surgeon would take a part of eyelid out and use some stitches or take a part of ear’s back skin and graft it to the eyelid.

If the patient does not perform a surgery, there are some other solutions too. The skin can be held by a transparent tape. In some cases stitches might be used too. There are some patients who use botox to relax the eyelid muscle and stop this problem.

What are the symptoms?

To help you find out if you have an entropion or not, some indications are mentioned below:

• you might feel something in your eye
• eye irritation
• watery eye is common
• you may have crusting on eyelid
• patient might suffer from pain
• the eye becomes sensitive to light
• wind can bother the eye
• loose skin near the eye
• eye redness

Does entropion have any complications?

As we all know, every surgery or treatment has some complications. So does this treatment. A common risk of entropion treatment is its recurrence. Your eyelid might rotate too much and cause ectropion. Another complication is that your eyelid or its skin can be cut more than it is needed. Fistula formation is possible too. If this happens the surgeon would cut it and try to repair.