What causes ptosis?
Eyelid ptosis is defined as either congenital which means you are born with it or acquired
which means you developed it later in life.
Congenital ptosis is a result of variation in the development of the muscle that lifts
the eyelid called the levator muscle.
The term levator is like the word elevator without the letter “e”.
Congenital ptosis is associated with different levels of severity and muscle function.
Acquired ptosis can be caused by a physical volume of tissue over the eyelid and referred
to as mechanical ptosis.
A more common cause of ptosis is muscular or aponeurotic ptosis which is essentially
a stretching and thinning of a part of the levator muscle.
Sometimes ptosis occurs after someone undergoes an eye procedure such as cataract surgery
or Lasik or laser vision correction.
Ptosis can also be caused by neurologic conditions such as Horner’s syndrome and third nerve
palsy.