Ptosis (eyelid) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ptosis of the eyelids

Ptosis of the left eyelid (unilateral ptosis). A headshot daguerreotype of an unidentified male, by William Bell in 1852.

Ptosis, also known as blepharoptosis, is a drooping or falling of the upper eyelid.

The drooping may be worse after being awake longer when the individual's muscles are tired.

This condition is sometimes called "lazy eye", but that term normally refers to the condition amblyopia.

Images for kids

Early fourteenth-century manuscript initial showing King Edward I of England and his wife Eleanor of Castile. The artist has depicted Edward's blepharoptosis, a trait he inherited from his father, King Henry III.
Neurotoxic ptosis caused by botulinum toxin: a 14-year-old botulism patient with bilateral total ophthalmoplegia with ptosis (left image) and dilated, fixed pupils (right image). The teenager was fully conscious
Phineas Gage displayed ptosis after a large iron rod entered his left cheek, passed behind his left eye, and exited at the top of his head
Mild right eyelid ptosis
Hollywood actor Forest Whitaker has a left eye ptosis