When to Release Ptosis Correction and When to Have Retraction Surgery (ft. Overcorrection = Retracted Eyes)

Ptosis correction that you had because you wanted a more defined gaze,

or because the clinic recommended it.

The eyes look bigger and more open...

but what is this feeling that they have become excessively large?

Quite a few people are told their eyes look like a startled rabbit's.

In normal eyes, the upper eyelid covers the iris

by about 1.5–2 mm.

When the upper eyelid rises higher than in normal eyes

and is lifted excessively, we say it has been overcorrected.

Overcorrection is also referred to as retracted eyes.

Quite often people say "it retracts, it retracts"

while misunderstanding what the word means.

To say it once more,

"retraction" refers to eyes that are opened too wide.

So what methods are there for resolving

overcorrected eyes (retracted eyes)?

First, within one month of ptosis correction, the problem can be

resolved by releasing the ptosis correction.

Once a month has passed, it has to be corrected through retraction surgery

(eyelid retraction correction).

Retraction surgery is a highly demanding operation that recesses the muscle that opens the eye

while separating the conjunctiva from Müller's muscle

(the eye-opening muscle attached to the conjunctiva).

To put the problem right as quickly as possible,

you should visit within one month of the ptosis correction surgery

and have the overcorrection treated, shouldn't you?

That said, we occasionally see patients who come to us saying another clinic

released the adhesion from their ptosis correction.

That is not retraction surgery. Removing the threads does not

in itself correct eyelid retraction.

Eyelid retraction correction involves a number of variables.

There are cases where things are fine shortly after surgery,

but after 2–3 weeks the eyes open too wide again.

These cases need early correction.

This happens when the eyes appear smaller under anaesthesia during surgery,

so the retraction surgery looks as though it went well, but with time

it turns out that the retraction surgery was not carried out sufficiently.

Having gone to the trouble of surgery only for it to go poorly and then

needing early correction all over again — how hard that must be.

To prevent this, it is important to have surgery from an experienced

board-certified plastic surgeon.

Dr. Choi Dong-il of Gangnam Seoyon is a board-certified plastic surgeon

with over 20 years of experience, and he operates delicately and accurately

to give you normal eyes.

Finally, we will close by showing you photographs from a case

of released ptosis correction.