Canthoplasty in Turkey

Canthoplasty is surgery on the outer corner of the eye. The surgeon detaches the tendon that anchors the lower lid to the bone, repositions it and fixes it higher or tighter, which changes the shape of the eye opening and the angle its outer corner sits at.

It is done for two very different reasons. Functionally, it tightens a lower lid that has become lax, turned outward or been pulled down by earlier eyelid surgery. Cosmetically, it is what people are asking for when they talk about a cat eye, a fox eye or a positive canthal tilt. The operation is the same; how much it can change is set by your own bone and tendon, not by the photograph you bring.

Canthal tilt is the angle of a line drawn from the inner corner of the eye to the outer corner. When the outer corner sits higher than the inner one, the tilt is described as positive, and that is the look most people mean by a fox eye or a cat eye.

Two things are worth knowing before you spend money on it. First, the position of your outer corner is limited by where the bony rim sits, so the change available to you is anatomical rather than chosen from a menu. Second, a great deal of the tilt people admire in photographs comes from brow position, makeup and camera angle, not from surgery on the corner of the eye. A surgeon who measures your own tilt and tells you how much is realistically available is giving you the useful answer.

If what you actually want is a lifted tail of the brow, that is a different operation, and a thread lift or a brow procedure changes it rather than a canthoplasty. If the concern is hooded or heavy upper lids, or bags below, see eyelid surgery, which is the operation for those and is often what people are shown when they search for a fox eye.

1. 1

   Assessment

   The surgeon measures your canthal tilt, tests lower lid laxity by pulling it away from the eye, checks tear function and looks at your brow and midface. That examination decides whether you need a canthopexy, a canthoplasty, or something else entirely.
2. 2

   Anaesthetic

   Often local anaesthetic with sedation, sometimes general, and frequently combined with another eyelid procedure in the same sitting.
3. 3

   The incision

   A small incision at the outer corner, usually within the natural crease or extending slightly into a laughter line, where it settles into an existing fold.
4. 4

   Releasing and repositioning

   The lateral canthal tendon is detached from the bone at the rim, shortened if needed, and fixed at its new height and tension. The fixation point is what determines the final shape.
5. 5

   Closing

   Fine sutures, often removed at a check a week or so later. Which is why the length of stay matters when you are travelling.
6. 6

   Review before you fly

   The surgeon checks lid position, closure and the eye surface before clearing you to travel.

• Plan the stay around the suture check. This is the practical constraint. Agree the number of nights with the clinic in writing before you book flights.
• Ask who is operating and what they are. Oculoplastic surgeons and plastic surgeons both do this. What matters is how much eyelid work they do, because lid position is unforgiving.
• Bring your eye history. Dry eye, laser vision correction, contact lens wear, thyroid eye disease and any previous eyelid surgery all change the plan and the risk.
• Settle the revision question first. Asymmetry is the common reason for a second procedure. Find out who pays and whether you would have to travel back.
• Do not book sightseeing for after. Swelling, ointment and light sensitivity make the first days indoor days. Arrive early instead.

Canthoplasty is a procedure on the lateral canthal tendon, the short band that holds the outer corner of the lower eyelid to the bony rim of the eye socket. The surgeon releases it, shortens or repositions it, and re-anchors it at a new height and tension.

The result is a lower lid that sits tighter against the eye and an outer corner that sits at a different angle. Where the change is small and the tendon is only slightly loose, a canthopexy achieves the same aim with a stitch rather than a release. Both are commonly performed together with eyelid surgery rather than on their own.

• Royal College of Ophthalmologists, eyelid surgery patient information.
• British Oculoplastic Surgery Society, guidance on lower eyelid and canthal procedures.
• British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, eyelid surgery patient information.
• General Medical Council, cosmetic interventions guidance.
• Turkish Ministry of Health, health tourism authorisation for hospitals.