Eye Surgery

• Hong-Shick Song’s Special Clinic for drooping eyelids “Curtain Eye Syndrome Clinic”
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What is curtain eye syndrome?

• When eye lids continue to drape over eyes, you tend to build a habit of lifting your eyelids with eyelashes and forehead. Every time you open your eyes, you must contract your forehead to lift eyebrows and eyelids, hence causing more forehead movements, which in turn will cause wrinkles on forehead and more draping of eyebrows and eyelids every year.
• At Dream Plastic Surgery, this is called “Curtain Eye Syndrome” describing eyelids covering eyes like curtains and doing its best at its cosmetic and functional remedies.
• Curtain Eye Syndrome also occurs in young people and if left untreated for a long time, it can impair eye sights. Even amongst high school students, you can readily see students excessively lifting their forehead causing wrinkles. These symptoms will worsen over the years and so it is important to fix them as soon as possible.
• Depending on people, these symptoms are manifested in different ages when discomforts can begin in elementary school stages or some will come for treatment in their 20’s when they will feel that ‘They’ve had enough”. Weight of fat deposit will push down on eyelids and the thicker the eyelids, the faster the speed of eyelid drooping.

Curtain Eye Syndrome

• It is often seen in Asians whose forehead and eyebrows sag and cover eyes. This does not exclusively apply for older people and in Korea people with these symptoms at ear ages are often seen. When eyelids sags over eyes, there will be partial obstruction of vision and to overcome this problem, you tend to build a habit of opening eyelids by lifting eyebrows and forehead. These lifting movements of eyebrow and forehead every time trying to open eyes will naturally deepen wrinkles on forehead, easily fatigued and does not give good impression aesthetically.

Symptoms of curtain eye syndrome

• 01. When opening eyes, forehead and eyebrows are strenuously lifted: These unnecessary movements are performed thousands
        of times every day and hence causing fatigues and intermittent migraine. In most cases, people are so used to such habit
        and not realize the discomfort but once the symptom is fixed through eye lid surgeries, they suddenly realize how greatly
        difficult it was.
        This is like when lifting small weights, people don’t feel them to be so heavy but if you have to carry those small weights
        all day, your arms will be tired and hurt.
• 02. Worsening of forehead wrinkles.
• 03. Cosmetic disadvantages from smaller eyes.
• 04. If Curtain Eye Syndrome gets severe, sometimes people build bad habits of tilting their heads back when opening eyes and
        look downward
• 05. Avoid other people’s eyes and lack of self-confidence.
• 06. Amblyopia

Self diagnosis of Curtain Eye Syndrome

• To detect the degree of curtain eye syndrome, place your hand on forehead to prevent it from moving and open eyes. This was you can detect exactly how much eyelids are covering eyes.
• There are similar symptoms to curtain eye syndrome.
  From aging eyelids are sagging and mimics the symptoms of curtain eye syndrome. It is called ‘Blepharochalasis’
• They are usually found in late 30’s but they can be found in late 20’s as well. At first eyelids begin to sag and eyes look smaller and due to sagging eyelids, eyelashes can be rolled in and feel uncomfortable.
  Like with curtain eye syndrome, you tend to lift eyebrows and forehead in severe cases to open eyes causing wrinkles on forehead.
• If left untreated, eyelids on the outer corners of your eyes can come down and form triangular eyes and this can cause skin inflammation and itchiness.
  Full vision is interfered that you can feel frustrated and amblyopia can worsen. You will give sleepy impression and can look order than your age
• Ptosis is a disease with similar symptoms where congenital weakness of muscles to open eyes causes difficulty in opening eyes.
  On the other hand, with curtain eye syndrome and blepharochalasis, eye muscles are fine but eyelids are drooping over eyes.
• Even doctors with insufficient experience can be confused about curtain eye syndrome, blepharochalasis and ptosis, and if they mis-diagnose and perform inappropriate surgeries, you can end up with straining or angry eyes or even more sleepy eyes.

Treatment of curtain eye syndrome

• In the past, it was generally considered that thick and drooping eyes needed incisional surgery. But incisional surgeries on thick and drooping eyelids can leave behind unnatural looking results and for this reason, buried methods are more preferred in younger people.
• At Dream Plastic Surgery, we have found a way to overcome the possible problem of suture coming loose with buried method and surgical scars from partial incisional method. Our minimal incision, continuously buried method has the combined advantages of both buried and partial incisional methods and provides the most natural and safe way to treat Curtain Eye Syndrome. Delayed treatment will cause deeper wrinkles on forehead and inconvenience daily lives. It is advisable to have it treated as soon as it is found. Curtain Eye Syndrome is done with a local anesthetic and this is to check the condition of eyelids when wake up. The surgery is possible from 3rd year in elementary school but patients should be strong willed with no fear or anxiety about the surgery. So usually, 6th year in elementary school is considered appropriate.
• It is not uncommon that people take Botox injection to treat forehead wrinkles from Curtain Eye Syndrome, Blepharochalasis or Ptosis, but Botox injection disables muscular movement in forehead and in turn disables opening eyes and hence narrowing of vision. This does not solve unease facial impression either and so not a suitable treatment. With minimal incisional, continuous buried double eyelid surgery, wrinkles will naturally get better without the movement of forehead.

Difference between Curtain Eye Syndrome and Ptosis

• Ptosis is a disease very similar to curtain eye syndrome. With Ptosis, whether congenital or acquired, has abnormally weak eye opening muscle(levator palpebrae superioris) and when you open your eyes, you tend to lift your forehead strenuously.
• Appearance wise, eye opening with forming wrinkles on forehead looks similar to curtain eye syndrome but with ptosis, eye opening muscles are weak and has intrinsic problem of opening eyes wide.
• But the difference is with curtain eye syndrome, eye opening muscles are functioning normally and eyes underneath drooping eyelids are open normally. So with Ptosis, a complicated ptosis correction surgery is required to reinforce the muscles, whereas with curtain eye syndrome, the treatment is focused on lifting sagging eyelids through double eyelid surgery.