Sunken Eyes l How to Treat A Sunken Eye Problem

Sunken eyes produce an effect of premature aging. Its correction involves the use of autologous fat

Sunken eyes are very unsightly. The appearance of sunken eyes is due to the premature reabsorption of fat around the eyeballs. The loss of this fat makes the eyes look “shot.” The eyeball is wrapped in a “cushion” of fat that surrounds and fixes it. This is the periorbital fat. When some of this periorbital fat is reabsorbed, a sunken eye occurs.

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If you are a patient with sunken eyes, it is likely that you have been looking for a plastic surgeon to correct this problem and have only been offer a blepharoplasty. Unfortunately, blepharoplasty does not correct the sunken eye problem, and if you end up having one, you will already find out from experience.

The injection of processed fat from the same patient solves this aesthetic disharmony. This achieves a considerable aesthetic improvement in harmony with the face. However, it is a very delicate surgery that requires significant experience from the surgeon.

Often, this procedure is combined with removing excess skin from the eyelids or treating droopy eyelids. This is the cosmetic surgery of the look. Unfortunately, patients also report functional problems. Reading problems are uncommon; patients tell us they have trouble passing the eyeliner pencil, which usually gets stuck.

How to Treat a Sunken Eye Problem

When we say that a patient has sunken eyes, we mean that the eyelids tend to be more prominent on the outer edge than on the inner edge. For this reason, a shadow or bag appears in the inner corner and derives that sinking sensation from there. There is also a kind of hollow under the brow bone.

Technically we speak of exophthalmos, and the reason for its appearance may be a displacement of the eyeball towards the back of the orbit. However, we are talking about a mainly aesthetic condition linked to an increase in the rotation volume or reduction of the eyeball or extraocular orbital tissues. It occurs primarily when an eye is smaller (microphthalmia) or after a fracture of the orbital floor when part of the orbital content is displace.

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What are the Leading Causes of Sunken Eyes?

Lack of sleep, poor hydration, and aging may be behind the appearance of sunken eyes. In addition, the loss of fatty tissue in the area around the eyes can result from aging, hereditary factors, an unhealthy lifestyle, or certain diseases and injuries.

• In the case of aging, the problem of sunken eyes can begin to appear after the age of 40. It is related to the decrease in hydration and volume in the area. As a consequence, shadows and dark circles appear around the lower eyelids. Facial bone density also decreases, and the supporting structures that hold the tissues together slowly lose their integrity. This causes a hollowing-out effect in different areas of the face.
• Sometimes it is also due to genetic reasons related to the bony anatomy and the soft tissues of the face and eyelids. For example, if the skin of the eyelid is thin, it will show the muscle and bone underneath.
• Lifestyle also has a lot to do with it. For example, lack of sleep is one of the fundamental causes of premature skin damage and aging. Tobacco also has a negative impact in this regard. The substances it contains break down collagen and reduce the skin’s elasticity.
• Behind this situation, there may also be poorly perform blepharoplasty procedures, orbital fractures, trauma, bruising, or some medications for glaucoma.
• Sometimes autoimmune diseases and metastatic cancer can cause atrophy of fat and, consequently, a sensation of sunken eyes.
• Dehydration symptoms can also cause them derived, for example, from stomach viruses.

Which is the Treatment?

To correct the situation, there are several options. Plastic or reconstructive surgery can be use to reconstruct the orbital area in several ways:

• Placing implants.
• Making fat grafts in the orbital quadrants.
• With lipofilling techniques.

Plates will be implant if the enophthalmos is due to an orbital fracture. If it is due to a tumor or severe trauma, a more complex orbital reconstruction operation with skin or fat grafts may be use in addition to the titanium or metaphor plates.

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