Question:
I am a 39-year-old female who has a slightly more relaxed looking (droopy) left eyelid. Would getting a Botox injection near my other eyelid relax that area and thus make my eyes appear more balanced?

Answer:
That is a difficult question to answer without seeing you, but the answer is probably no. A droopy eyelid can be caused by a number of factors, but it can be summarized into three categories, brow ptosis, dermatochalasia, eyelid ptosis. Brow ptosis is when the forehead and brow drop causing the upper eyelid skin to fold and look more redundant and tired. In the case of asymmetry, sometimes the more droopy looking lid is the normal one and the person is really activating the forehead muscle and elevating the other side. This is the only situation that Botox may help. A browlift may also be needed. Upper eyelid dermatochalasia is when there is a redundancy of upper eyelid skin.  This is usually corrected with a blepharoplasty. At times a brow lift may also be indicated. Eyelid ptosis is when the actual eyelid margin is too low and covering the upper part of the iris (colored part of the eye) or pupil. This usually needs to be corrected surgically.

Posted by Dr. Buckingham