Blink twice if you need help with droopy eyelids

At a recent wake, I found myself making small talk with a friend I affectionately file under LED (Loaded Elite Divorcee)—the kind of woman whose living room is dominated by a giant oil painting of herself. Midway through our chat, she breezily mentioned that she hadn’t slept in three days. I wasn’t so much concerned with why as I was with how. Her eyes betrayed nothing; no puff, no sag, just lids that were lifted, smooth, and suspiciously serene. Was this a secret of the 1%? Apparently not. Turns out, commoners like us can get in on it too. It’s called ptosis surgery for droopy eyelids. 

According to Dr Roy Tan, an oculoplastic and orbital surgeon from Asian Healthcare Specialists, the muscle that keeps your eyelid lifted can, over time, stretch out like an old rubber band—longer, looser, weaker. It’s the most common cause of ptosis, the medical term for droopy lids. Age doesn’t help. Nor does rubbing your eyes or wrestling with contact lenses every morning. 

“The mechanical manipulation weakens the muscle over time,” says Dr Tan. And thanks to the rise of daily lens wear, he’s seeing more cases among younger women, too.

Can skincare help, depending on one’s skin type?

Short answer: Sort of. According to Dr Tan, skin type doesn’t cause ptosis, but oiliness or dryness can contribute to the itchiness that leads to eye-rubbing, which does. Meanwhile, skincare continues to do what it can from the sidelines. “Looking fresh and bright-eyed is a universal desire,” says Nicolas Travis, founder of Allies of Skin. His offering, the Peptides & Omegas Firming Eye Cream, is designed to fake eight hours of sleep, if not functioning eyelid muscles.

The secret to the sauce is straightforward. Like any eye cream worthy of top-shelf real estate, it hydrates and soothes with a mix of nourishing staples like organic rosehip, argan and baobab oils, ceramides, and squalane. These form a cushy base for the actives — Vitamin C and bakuchiol —to step in to smooth, brighten, and coax a bit of bounce back into the skin.

Most makeup artists I spoke to about correcting droopy eyelids don’t recommend reaching for a quick fix, as no dab of highlighter or clever sweep of eyeshadow is going to completely correct them. And worse, removal, especially the kind done half-asleep, over a sink, can aggravate itchiness. Instead, they recommend the usual suspects: sleep, SPF, and hydration. A healthy lifestyle, in other words, which Dr Tan agrees with.

“While ageing is inevitable, a healthy lifestyle can support overall skin health,” he says. His checklist includes a balanced diet, proper hydration, and daily sun protection; steps that help maintain elasticity and stave off premature ageing. But, he adds, “these factors cannot directly reverse or prevent ptosis, which is primarily caused by muscle weakening. Furthermore, as Singapore’s population ages, the prevalence of droopy eyelids is naturally on the rise.”

How can ptosis impact my daily life?

In a world where tweens are hoarding anti-ageing eye creams and women under 30 are booking Botox appointments between Pilates and matcha latte runs, it’s easy to dismiss droopy eyelids as a cosmetic gripe. But as Dr Tan points out, ptosis is as physiological as it is psychological. “It can impair vision as partial blockage of the visual field can affect tasks like driving, reading, even basic focus,” he says. The constant effort to keep the eyes open often shifts upward, to the forehead muscles, leading to strain and headaches.

Even posture gets involved. “Patients may adopt a chin-up position to clear their visual field,” he adds, “which over time can lead to neck pain.”

When does ptosis require medical intervention?

Ptosis surgery may sound like something out of a medieval horror playbook — levator muscle repair, frontalis suspension, eyelid skin excision — but the reality is far less dramatic. The most common approach involves tightening the levator, the muscle responsible for lifting the eyelid. In certain cases, a frontalis suspension may be performed, connecting the eyelid to the forehead muscle with a subtle sling, allowing the brow to pick up the slack. For patients with excess skin weighing things down, eyelid skin removal may be added to the mix.

But before you imagine bandages and bedrest, Dr Tan offers reassurance: it’s done under local anaesthesia, takes about one to two hours, and most patients go home the same day although “the recovery process usually involves swelling and bruising that gradually subsides over days to weeks, and most patients report significant improvement in their vision and appearance after the procedure.”

He notes, though, that techniques for ptosis surgery are becoming increasingly refined, with shorter recovery times and minimal disruption to one’s social calendar. According to him, too, ideal candidates are “individuals with significant ptosis affecting their vision”, as mentioned. Less ideal? Anyone expecting results more in line with TikTok filters than actual anatomy.

Looking back, I still have no idea what kept my LED friend up for three days, though last I checked, she was overseas viewing studs again in a “tireless search for the perfect one” (horse or man, though?), which might explain it. But thanks to ptosis surgery, at least now I know how. There were no secrets, no serums, no sleep hacks. Just a blink-and-you ll-miss-it procedure, a few strategically tightened muscles, and just the faintest wink at gravity.