We measured lower eyelid length in 288 healthy subjects to establish a norm and then in 95 patients with complaints of intractable photophobia, foreign-body sensation, chronic tearing, or chronic recurrent conjunctivitis. The difference in length was statistically significant (34.25 +/- 2.43 mm for healthy men vs 36.51 +/- 2.59 mm in male patients [P - .001] and 32.97 +/- 2.46 mm for healthy women vs 33.95 +/- 2.9 mm for female patients [P = .01]). There appears to be a cause-and-effect relationship between a flaccid lower eyelid and these ocular symptoms.