As people get older, they can also suffer from age-related ailments. One of those ailments is entropion or ectropion. Read more about this condition below.
Entropion and Ectropion
- Entropion
- Complaints you may receive
- Cause
- Therapy
- Ectropion
- Cause
- Complaints
- Therapy
Entropion
With entropion, the eyelid under the eye is folded inward and is in contact with the eyeball. This causes the eyelashes to sit against the eyeball, which can lead to irritation of the eye. This could also damage the cornea.
Complaints you may receive
- Pain in the eye
- Irritation
- Red eye
- Pain when looking into the light
- Feeling like there is sand in your eye
- Deteriorated vision
- Discharge from the eye
Cause
The cause of entropion is old age. The skin under the eyelid ages, causing the skin to sag.
Therapy
Entropion can be treated with surgery. This operation takes approximately 45 minutes and takes place under local anesthesia. After the operation, all complaints except watery eyes will disappear. It is 90% certain that the operation will be successful. If you are taking medications and blood thinning medications containing acetylsalicylic acid (asperine, ascal), it is necessary to stop taking this medication one week before the operation. Please visit your doctor for this. After the operation, it is completely normal for some discharge to flow from the eye. You should dab this clean with a little lukewarm water.
Ectropion
With ectropion, the eyelid under the eye is folded outwards, so that it is not in contact with the eyeball.
Cause
The cause of ectropion is old age. This condition also causes the skin under the eyelid to age, causing the skin to sag.
Complaints
- Watery eye
- Red eye
- Swollen conjunctiva in the lower eyelid
- Irritated eye
- Insufficient humidification
Therapy
Ectropion can also be treated with surgery. This operation takes approximately 30 minutes and takes place under local anesthesia. After the operation, all complaints, except sometimes watery eyes, will disappear. The success of the outcome depends on how long the ectropion has been present. Also with this condition, if you are taking medications and blood thinning medications containing the substance acetylsalicylic acid (asperine, ascal), it is necessary to stop taking this medication one week before the operation. Please visit your doctor for this.