I am very honoured to be the first Oculoplastic Surgeon to practice in Farrer Park Hospital! I commenced practice at the International Eye Cataract Retina Centre there this week, and I just love it- it is a beautiful, brand new hospital with excellent facilities. Do drop by to visit anytime!
I have been asked what exactly Oculoplastic Surgery is. To put simply, it is the medical and surgical treatment of conditions affecting the eyes and surrounding areas. Most of my Oculoplastic work revolves around treating eyelid problems, eye socket problems and tearing problems, especially those due to tear duct blockage.
Eyelid surgery is done for both medical and aesthetic reasons. Eyelid lifts can be done for hooded eyelids, eyebags and droopy eyelids, and can significantly improve one’s quality of life, especially if the eyelid is blocking vision. Other eyelid problems amenable to surgery include eyelashes turning inwards (entropion), turning outwards (ectropion), and growths on the eyelid.
There are also conditions that affect the eyelids that do not require surgery and can be treated with medicine or injections. These include twitching eyelids, half face twitching, and age lines around the eyes- frown lines, laugh lines/crow’s feet, forehead lines.
Eye socket problems include growths in and around the eye socket, eye problems due to thyroid gland diseases, and fractures of the eye socket due to trauma.
Tearing is a very common symptom, and has a myriad of causes. One of the causes is a blockage of the tear duct, which can cause infection in addition to tearing. It can be treated by surgery, which can even be done through the nose, without any visible scars.
I hope this gives a quick overview of the scope of Oculoplastic Surgery! I am very privileged to be a practitioner in this field, it is a fascinating subspecialty with many different surgical techniques, and each treatment has to be customised to the patient’s needs because everyone’s anatomy is different. It is challenging and deeply satisfying work.
Dr Joy Chan 