Facial Asymmetry

Q: Dr. Eppley, What if anything can be done for my orbital and overall facial asymmetry? Its clearly affected the entire side of my face not just my eye. I have to tilt my face for pictures and even then its way off. Thoughts? The second pic is with my head tilted…I am tired of having to do so and has really hindered my confidence my entire life.

A: Thank you for your inquiry and sending your picture. Eye asymmetry (orbital dystopia)  rarely occurs in isolation and is often part of an overall facial asymmetry. The brow bone, cheek, nose and even the jawline may be lower or deficient on the ‘lower eye’ side. Tilting the head helps ‘lift’ the deficient side to make it more even. The key is this type of facial asymmetry is to pick the procedures that would make the greatest difference. The hardest choice is deciding what to do with the eye as this is the most important part of the facial asymmetry correction. The eye must come up as well as the outer corner of the lower eyelid. One caution here is to keep an ‘eye’ on the position of the upper eyelid so the raised eye does not get buried under the upper eyelid creating a pseudoptosis appearance.

Vertical brow bone reduction, cheek augmentation and jawline reduction/widening and a straightening rhinoplasty are all other options to consider in facial asymmetry correction.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana