After we discuss aging eyes, we are likely to mention crow’s-feet, dark circles, bags…. But what about your actual eyes?

We notice collagen loss across the eyes first, because that’s where our skin is thinnest. Crow’s-feet normally start to look within the early 30s, sometimes earlier. But collagen loss also leads to changes to the eyeball itself, which might result in every little thing from permanently drained looking eyes to ectropion, or “inside-out eyelids,” during which the lids don’t quite adhere to the eyeball like they used to and flip outward (think: Droopy the dog).

Fortunately, the Cleveland Clinic reports that ectropion only occurs amongst 2.9 percent of the population — the over-60 population, specifically — but ectropion isn’t the one thing that may age your eye sockets. Between ophthalmological and dermatological intervention, nonetheless, there’s plenty you possibly can do to look more bright-eyed.

Meet the experts

• Inna Lazar, ODan optometrist based in Greenwich, CT.
• Usiwoma Abugo, MDa board-certified ophthalmologist based in Norfolk, VA.
• Rachel Mistur, MDa board-certified dermatologist based in Cleveland, OH.

What happens to eyes as we age?

“When you see a patient of their 80s or 90s, their eyeballs may look smaller and more sunken,” says Inna Lazar, ODan optometrist based in Greenwich, CT. That’s because collagen loss doesn’t stop at the edges of your eyes. The white a part of the attention, or sclera, also loses collagen.

Lack of collagen can also be a “huge contributor to dryness,” Dr. Lazar says. Even when the skin laxity attributable to collagen loss isn’t severe enough to guide to ectropion, starting around age 60, “the lower eyelids can develop into so loose that they stop lubricating and protecting the attention as they need to, leading to dry eye,” explains Norfolk, VA-based board-certified ophthalmologist Usiwoma Abugo, MDwho serves as a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

The sclera and conjunctiva (the skinny, clear membrane that protects your sclera) can also develop a gray or yellowish tint largely because of UV damage (although smoking can even cause discoloration of the eyeballs).