Senile Ectropion. In later years, when skin has lost some of its elasticity and firmness, the facial skin may sag. The lower eyelids are often affected, and may sag so that they no longer touch the eyeball, and the inner surface of the eyelid visible to others. This difficulty, called ectropion, does not reflect any systemic disease, other than aging of the skin and its loss of tone.
Fig. 12. In the years past middle age, sagging, drooping eyelids, called senile ectropion, are due to a loss of skin tone of later life and occur mostly in thin-skinned persons of the outdoor type, such as farmers. This eye problem difficulty can be cured by plastic surgery.
Ectropion frequently brings about irritation of the eyeball and promotes constant, annoying tearing and so treatment is often recommended in the form of a minor surgical operation. This consists of removing a portion of the sagging lower eyelid, and stretching out the remainder to a normal appearance. Such a procedure must be undertaken by a surgeon skilled in plastic surgery, and the results of this treatment are highly gratifying.
Pterygium. A Pterygium is an accummulation of scar tissue over the eyeball resulting from exposure to dust, wind, sun and general outdoor life. This scar tissue is nature’s attempt to heal areas of constant irritation, to which the eye is frequently subjected in outdoor life, and is usually seen on the eyeball as a pie-shaped wedge of milky tissue extending outward from the nasal border of the eye. It may grow to cover the pupil and cause partial blindness.
Fig. 13. Growth of eyelid-type tissue over the eyeball, usually from the nasal side, is called pterygium. Affected by long years of outdoor life, wind, and dust, the growth may grow completely over the pupil to blur vision or even cause blindness. It is very slow growing, never cancerous, and easily cured with surgery.
The treatment of a pterygium is its removal by surgical means. While not a fatal disease, its progress may lead to permanently impaired vision or blindness when allowed to go on untreated. The prevention of a pterygium calls for care of the eyes with goggles and other protection, especially during outdoor activities.