Ptosis

[christinew]

Anyone have a child or have Ptosis themselves? (drooping eye-lid)

My 9 month old has slight but noticeable ptosis with his Left eye. Wondering if anyone has had the corrected surgery or their children have?


Thanks!

Christine

[TamiKnight]

My daughter developed a ptosis shortly after she was born. When she was in fifth grade, she had corrective surgery. Unfortunately, she got hit in the face with a basketball before it healed, and undid 75% of the correction. In high school, she had surgery again, which gave her a much more symmetrical appearance. The only downside is that eye doesn't close completely, even when she sleeps. It doesn't cause any problems, but it looks a little funny. I think if I had it to do over again, I would not wait for the surgery. The doctors didn't want to do it when she was very young, then by the time she was five, she didn't want it. However, kids are cruel, and growing up with this really did a number on her self-esteem. The surgery, in and of itself, was not a big deal. Her recovery time was short. I believe the first one would've been successful had it not been for the basketball incident. The second surgery was more difficult than the first because of the existing scar tissue.

[christinew]

Thanks for the post. I believe we will get it corrected. My husband thinks it gives him character however I think symmetry is a good thing and will help him with the general public (kids/jobs)which may be looked on as unfortunate in our society to have those biases but that is our reality. And not leave any chance to compromise his vision.

Just freaked about anesthesia.


Thanks again.

Christine

[TamiKnight]

Is your doctor willing to do corrective surgery at this age? Ours wasn't willing to touch it until she was at least 5.

[christinew]

He is not willing unless it is compromising his vision. We have a follow-up visit in Sept. Probably will wait 3+ years. Anxious to know what we will do.

Thanks for telling me about your daughter.

Christine

[DocAgocs]

Something you may want to explore is the option of chiropractic care for your baby. I know, you're thinking "My baby doesn't have low back pain..." but back pain is the tip of the iceberg for this profession.

I don't know if there have been any studies on ptosis specifically but infants respond exceptionally well to chiropractic care (so do adults, but infants are amazing) and I have personally seen all manner of weird things clear up with a good chiropractic adjustment.

Chiropractic care is perfectly safe for infants of any age and the adjustment of a baby is extremely light and easy. There are chiropractors who do postgraduate work in pedicatrics and become DICCP (Diplomate of the International Chiropractors Association Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics) in additional to doctor of chiropractic.

These would be good people to look for, obviously, but there are many, many doctors out there who are awesome with kids that are not DICCPs. Adjusting children and babies is a big part of our chiropractic education, so the DICCP is simply a bit more specialized in pediatrics, but all DC's can adjust kids. Call around and ask friends and you'll find several in your area that have a large percentage of kid patients.

Anyway, it's just a suggestion before doing a surgery. If the chiropractic care doesn't do anything, you can still do the surgery, and if it does then you've avoided having to do a much risker procedure to correct the same problem. Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes!

Oh, if you want to explore the chiropractic option, just PM me and I can give you some resources for getting a good referral list in your area, which you can use to narrow your search down!

[Laura]

Just a comment on anesthesia and infants. I am not a doctor this is just what our doctor told us. My son had to have surgery at 8 months because he had a hypospadia condition (the opening where he urinates from was in the wrong place -- didn't think I could write the actual word here ). Anyway, our doctor told us that once a child is over the age six months (assuming he is a healthy child) his body handles the effects of anesthesia the same as an older child. In our case, our doctor was insistant on getting the surgery done before the age of 2 because of documented psychological problems boys can have from having the type of surgery DS had at a later age. Any way, talk to your dr. if you have decided to go ahead with the surgery, my understanding is the anesthesia should not be an issue given your son's current age.

Also Karen W is an anesthesiologist (although she is currently an at home mom). I am sure she could answer all your questions about your concerns for anesthesia.

[christinew]

Thanks for your words. That is good news considering Christopher is 9 months.

Christine

[karen w]

Originally posted by Laura
Also Karen W is an anesthesiologist (although she is currently an at home mom). I am sure she could answer all your questions about your concerns for anesthesia. [/B]

Delurking...
Yep,
The above is true. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me, and I will try to answer them for you. Everything is associated with it's own unique set of risks(i.e. the surgery, the anesthesia etc...), but if your child is a full term infant without any health related issues(especially related to the lungs), he/she should not be at any increased risk for any complications. Good luck with your decisions.

Karen

[christinew]

Thanks Karen. I really appreciate your input. Christopher was 8.13 at birth full-term with no health problems except merconium (spelling?) which was "flushed" out during my labor before his entry into the world. His apgar's were 9/8 and then 9/9. He is a chunky monkey now at 25 pounds adn 30 inches. (DH and I are not tiny folks either). He has rarely been sick ever. Sounds like he'd do fine with anesthesia.

Christine

[ewatkins]

I have a mild form of ptosis -- I guess it runs in families as my grandfather had it too. It is more pronounced when I am tired, but I have never considered correcting it. I guess it depends on how severe it is.

[christinew]

Thanks for your words. We are not convinced it needs correction yet and yes..it is more pronounced when he is tired. Wish I could link up the photo to show you.