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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffAlthough treatments are available to relieve symptoms and protect your eye from damage, you'll likely need surgery to correct entropion.
When active inflammation or infection causes entropion (spastic entropion), your eyelid may return to its normal alignment as you treat the inflamed or infected eye. However, entropion often persists after the other condition has been treated.
Temporary treatments
Short-term fixes can be useful if you can't tolerate surgery or you have to delay it. Effective temporary treatments include:
- Skin tape. Special transparent skin tape can be applied to your eyelid to keep it from turning in. Place one end of the tape near your lower eyelashes, then pull down gently and attach the other end of the tape to your upper cheek. Ask your doctor to demonstrate proper technique and placement of the tape.
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Stitches that turn the eyelid outward. This procedure can be done in your doctor's office with local anesthesia. After numbing the eye, your doctor places two to three stitches in specific locations along the affected eyelid.
The stitches turn the eyelid outward, and resulting scar tissue keeps it in position even after the stitches are removed. There's a high likelihood that your eyelid will turn itself back inward within several months of the stitching, however, so it isn't a long-term solution.
- OnabotulinumtoxinA (Botox). Small amounts of onabotulinumtoxinA injected in the lower eyelid can turn the eyelid out. You may get a series of injections that have effects that can last up to six months.
Surgery
Entropion usually requires surgery. Several different types of surgery may be used to treat entropion. The technique used depends on the cause and the condition of the surrounding tissue. Before the surgery, you'll receive a local anesthetic to numb your eyelids.
If your entropion is caused by muscle and ligament relaxation due to aging, your surgeon will likely remove a small part of your lower eyelid, which serves to tighten the tendons and muscles of the lid. You'll have a few stitches on the outside corner of your eye, or just below your lower eyelid.
If you have scar tissue or have had trauma or previous surgeries, your surgeon may need to use a skin graft, taken from the roof of your mouth or from areas of your nose, to correct the entropion.
- Pereira MG, et al. Eyelid entropion. Seminars in Ophthalmology. 2010;25:52.
- Entropion. American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. http://www.asoprs.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3651. Accessed Oct. 15, 2012.
- Boboridis KG, et al. Interventions for involutional lower lid entropion. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD002221.pub2/abstract. Accessed Oct. 31, 2012.
- Wright HR. Epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of trachoma. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Nov. 5, 2012.
- Yanoff M, ed., et al. Ophthalmology. 3rd ed. Edinburgh, U.K.: Mosby Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/212799885-2/0/1869/0.html. Accessed Oct. 31, 2012.
- Gerstenblith AT, et al., eds. The Wills Eye Manual: Office and Emergency Room Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Disease. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Wolters Kluwer Health Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2012. http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&CSC=Y&NEWS=N&PAGE=booktext&D=books3&AN=01626623/6th_Edition/2&XPATH=/OVIDBOOK%5b1%5d/METADATA%5b1%5d/TBY%5b1%5d/EDITORS%5b1%5d. Accessed Nov. 1, 2012.
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