By Melissa Dahl, health writer
It’s a gross-out skill little brothers seem to be born with – a knack for turning their eyelids inside out, effectively freaking out all the ladies in their lives.
A fun, freaky trick, sure. But what if you couldn’t help flipping your lids? Some eyelids among us have minds of their own, flipping and flopping inside out whenever they please.
Those with a condition called
floppy eyelid syndrome have lids that lack a normal amount of elastin, making the thin skin super stretchy. Grossing out their peers is totally out of their control – their eyelids can turn inside out spontaneously. In some cases, the upper lid can stretch all the way to the eyebrow, and both the upper and lower lids can be pulled forward as much as two centimeters. (Doesn’t seem like very much? Try seeing how far yours will go.)
And although it sounds weird enough to make a really freaky YouTube video, experts say the condition isn’t as rare as you might think.
“It’s actually very common – you probably have met somebody with it,” says Dr. Sean Blaydon, the president of the Austin Ophthalmological Society. Blaydon is also a plastic surgeon at Texas Oculoplastic Consultants in Austin, Texas, who says he regularly repairs wayward eyelids.
But many people don’t realize they have floppy eyelids. It’s most common in obese, middle-aged men, especially those who have obstructive sleep apnea. One clue you might have flippy lids is chronic pink eye, which your lids may pick up by flopping open on your pillow as you sleep. (Another clue is if your eyelid is touching your eyebrow as you read this.)
So, score one for Mom? Can your face really freeze that way? Not so much, says Blaydon. No amount of eyelid flipping can cause floppy eyelid syndrome.
As you were, lid flippers.
Can you flip your eyelids? Tell us!
