Oculoplastic & Strabismus Surgery in Dubai

If you are looking for help with a drooping eyelid, excess eyelid skin, under-eye bags, an eyelid lump, a watery eye, a squint or double vision — in an adult or a child — this is the right section. Oculoplastic surgery deals with the structures around the eye: the eyelids, the eyebrow, the tear system and the orbit. Strabismus surgery deals with the six muscles that move each eye and keep both eyes aligned. They are different disciplines, and at ELEMENTAL both are performed by one surgeon whose practice has been built on exactly this combination — reconstructive eyelid surgery and squint correction in adults and in children.

Eyelids and orbit. Drooping upper eyelids (ptosis), excess eyelid skin, under-eye bags, chalazion and stye, turned-in or turned-out eyelids, eyelid growths and post-injury reconstruction. Some of these are medical conditions that affect vision; some are aesthetic requests; many are both.

Squint in adults and children. Misaligned eyes, double vision, a child's eye that turns in or out, congenital ptosis, revision of previous squint surgery.

Most people arrive here with a problem rather than with the name of an operation. Find yours below — each one opens the page that explains it.

• The upper eyelid droops — in an adult or from birth in a child, on one side or both.
• Excess skin on the upper eyelid, or bags under the eyes.
• One eye turns in or out in a child, or a squint that has been there since childhood in an adult.
• Double vision that interferes with reading, driving or work.
• A lump, a growth or a mark on the eyelid that has not settled.
• A child’s eye waters constantly, or the area beside the nose keeps becoming red and swollen.
• The eyelid has been injured, or needs reconstruction after a growth was removed.
• The upper eyelid looks hollow or sunken, sometimes after previous eyelid surgery.
• A previous eyelid operation did not give the expected result and you are considering revision.

If your problem is not on this list, it is still worth asking. The consultation begins with an examination, not with a decision.

These four are constantly confused, and the difference decides which operation is appropriate — or whether an operation is appropriate at all.

Ptosis is the eyelid margin itself sitting too low, because the muscle that lifts it is weak or has become detached. Removing skin does not correct it; the muscle has to be addressed. When the eyelid covers part of the pupil, this is a matter of vision, not of appearance.

Excess eyelid skin — dermatochalasis — is skin that has stretched and now hangs over the eyelid crease. The eyelid margin itself may sit normally. When the overhang narrows the upper field of vision, it becomes a medical indication rather than an aesthetic one.

A heavy or low brow pushes the whole eyelid down from above. Operating on the eyelid alone can then make the result look worse rather than better, because the cause sits higher.

Under-eye bags are the lower eyelid, and a different anatomy again: orbital fat coming forward, weakening of the lower eyelid support, or simply the way the tear trough is shaped.

They also combine. A person can have a low brow, stretched skin and true ptosis at the same time, and each contributes a different share. This is measured at the examination, and the measurement — not the photograph — determines the plan.

Dr. Hanna Barinova, Specialist Ophthalmologist, PhD. DHA licence 91913741-002. Areas of practice: oculoplastic surgery and strabismus surgery in adults and children. Sub-specialty training in eye plastic, facial cosmetic and orbital surgery at the University of Michigan, USA, and co-author of a 2024 peer-reviewed study with the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Michigan Medical School. More than ten years of practice at the OKHMATDYT National Children's Specialised Hospital in Kyiv, where her work covered paediatric eyelid, orbital, tear-duct and strabismus surgery. Her doctoral research was on recurrent dacryocystitis in children, and tear-duct surgery remains part of her practice. Her DHA licence number can be checked in the Sheryan public register.

Many oculoplastic and strabismus procedures can be performed as day surgery, when this is clinically appropriate and within the licensed scope of the facility. Cases that require inpatient care or additional specialist support are referred accordingly. ELEMENTAL is licensed by the Dubai Health Authority as a day surgical center (licence 5323888): an operating theatre, an anaesthesiology team including paediatric anaesthesia, a recovery room and a same-day discharge pathway. The patient arrives at the scheduled time on the day of surgery and goes home the same day with written aftercare instructions and a scheduled follow-up.

A consultation lasts up to 45 minutes. The surgeon examines the eyelids, the eye position and movement, takes measurements and photographs for the medical record, discusses what is medically indicated and what is optional, and explains the realistic outcome, the risks and the recovery. For children, parents are present throughout. Where a full orthoptic assessment is needed before a decision on squint surgery, it is arranged as part of the treatment pathway before any decision on surgery.

Consultation fee: AED 1,100. A follow-up consultation is AED 600. Procedure costs are confirmed in writing after examination; they depend on the diagnosis, the technique and the type of anaesthesia.

Eyelids and orbit

• Ptosis surgery — drooping upper eyelid, including congenital ptosis and revision cases
• Blepharoplasty — upper and lower eyelid surgery with preservation of periocular volume
• Chalazion and stye — removal and injection treatment
• Eyelid reconstruction and removal of eyelid lesions
• Also treated at consultation. Entropion and ectropion, xanthelasma, periocular fat grafting and endoscopic brow lift are performed by the same surgeon, assessed at the consultation and quoted in writing after examination

Strabismus

• Squint surgery in children — assessment first, including refraction and amblyopia treatment where indicated; surgery when it is clinically appropriate for the type and stability of the deviation
• Squint surgery in adults — double vision, long-standing squint, and revision of previous surgery

Every operation on the eyelids or eye muscles carries risks: bleeding, infection, asymmetry, under- or over-correction, temporary or persistent double vision after squint surgery, dry eye, scarring, and the possibility that a second procedure is needed. Individual results vary. These are discussed at the consultation and recorded in the informed consent before any procedure is scheduled.