Scar After Lateral Canthoplasty, Conjunctival Exposure - Can Revision of the Outer Canthus Restore It?

When performing lateral canthoplasty, if the outer skin is pulled down to lower the outer corner of the eye without repositioning the inner ligament and conjunctiva,

conjunctival exposure is inevitable, and ectropion of the outer corner of the eye, where only the corner turns outward, will occur.

Perhaps, until the appearance of a properly designed outer-corner-lowering lateral canthoplasty, in the early days of simple lateral canthoplasty,

because the inner conjunctiva had to be drawn out for enlargement of the outer canthus,

creating ectropion may have been the purpose of the surgery.

Looking at the before-and-after photos shared by senior doctors before I opened my practice, the procedure names may be different,

but in the end, because it was a simple lateral canthoplasty method that drew out and exposed the inner conjunctiva, if there was no ectropion after surgery, there was little difference in the before-and-after photos.

If you looked closely and thought the eyes seemed a little bigger after surgery, there was often ectropion at the outer corner, or #LateralCanthoplastyScar or #ConjunctivalExposure.

Simple lateral canthoplasty

No effect or severe conjunctival exposure

If, during simple lateral canthoplasty, only the outer skin is pulled down without repositioning the inner conjunctiva and part of the outer canthal ligament,

the inner conjunctiva turns outward, causing ectropion of the outer corner.

In the #beforeRevision of outer-corner revision, compared with the normal right eye, a red turned-out scar was visible at the left outer corner,

after revision, the position of the outer corner was aligned to be similar to the normal eye.

To remove the #LateralCanthoplastyScar that appears red because the outer corner has turned outward due to ectropion,

correcting the cause is important.

When performing lateral canthoplasty, the main cause of the outer corner turning outward is pulling down only the outer-layer skin of the corner of the eye.

The outer corner of the eye is divided, centered on the tarsus, into the outer skin and orbicularis muscle layer, and the inner conjunctiva and outer canthal ligament layer.

If the outer corner is lowered using only the outer skin without repositioning the inner outer canthal ligament, the inevitable side effect is

#OuterCornerEctropion.

Lowering the outer corner

The three layers, including the tarsal layer, the skin-muscle layer, and the ligament-conjunctival layer, must be lowered simultaneously!

Because ectropion at the outer corner exposes the red inner conjunctiva, it is noticeable to others, and especially when sitting on the subway and looking at a smartphone,

it becomes conspicuous to standing passengers, so it should be corrected as soon as possible.

In addition, ectropion can cause dry-eye symptoms such as eye irritation and pain, so early correction is needed even if six months have not yet passed.

Lateral canthoplasty scar, conjunctival exposure, ectropion

Early correction is possible even before 6 months have passed! Lari Plastic Surgery, which specializes in correcting lateral canthoplasty scars or ectropion at the outer corner, is close to Exit 5 of Apgujeong Rodeo Station on the Bundang Line.

If you want a direct consultation with the director, who has extensive experience in revision lateral canthoplasty, please make an appointment and visit soon!