Strabismus & Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)

A Non-Surgical Solution to Eye Turns

Eye turns (a condition called Strabismus), have to do with an inability to point both eyes in the same direction at the same time. One eye—or both, as in crossed eyes—may appear to turn in, or one eye may turn out, up or down.

Eye turns can change from one eye to the other, and may only appear after a person becomes tired or injured. It is not always noticeable, except through symptoms of difficulty doing certain daily activities.

An eye turn may cause double vision. To avoid seeing double, the person may tend to ignore the visual images from one eye by turning his or her head while reading.

Eye turns can be treated with Vision Therapy!

While surgery can straighten the eyes, one eye may still have a tendency to continue “seeing” as though it were still crossed. Eye turns can often be treated non-surgically with a program of Vision Therapy.

Eyes that wander cause more than just an appearance problem. Non-optimum binocular vision can cause trouble with:

• Riding a bicycle or driving
• Measuring objects in relation to oneself
• Doing close-up work
• Playing ball sports
• Depth perception (inability to see in 3D)

If you or a loved one has an eye turn, be sure to schedule an appointment with Dr. Shen or Dr. Dok.

Lazy Eye:  What is it? And What Can Parents Do About It? Minimal to No Patching!

“Lazy Eye,” or Amblyopia, is easy to miss because there are very few symptoms.  Lazy Eye means that the eye sees poorly, even with eyeglasses. Usually when parents see an eye that doesn’t seem to line up correctly they think that is a “lazy eye.”  In fact, that is a condition called an eye turn, or Strabismus.  It is important for parents to understand that while amblyopia and strabismus often occur together, you won’t always see an eye wander off when your child has amblyopia.

Some early childhood symptoms that might indicate that there is a problem include difficulty in catching or hitting a ball.   Another symptom is if your child has difficulty seeing 3D movies.  Being able to see 3D is not just a fun thing to do in the movies, it is important for everyday life.  As an example, we use 3 dimensional vision to ride a bicycle, walk down stairs, play sports and for all activities that require eye-hand coordination.  If your child always knocks over the milk at the dinner table, is clumsy or has sloppy handwriting, these could also be signs of a vision problem.

Treatment for amblyopia is different depending on which doctor you see.  Some will tell you that nothing can be done after age 7 or 9.  However, new research is confirming what we have known for years; thanks to optometric vision therapy, it is never too late to treat a lazy eye!  It is definitely true that the earlier amblyopia and other vision conditions are diagnosed, the easier they are to treat and manage.  But, even adults well into their 40’s and older can often benefit from vision therapy.

As a parent it is important to educate yourself on ALL treatment options because children do not outgrow eye turns or lazy eye.  Surgery is not the only way to treat an eye turn and there are more effective treatment options for lazy eye other than patching alone (with or without drops).  While the conventional approach to treating lazy eye includes patching the good eye for long periods of time, we are able to treat it with minimal to no patching.

Optometric vision therapy has helped many patients achieve normal vision in their amblyopic eye and has also resulted in eyes that are straight without the need for surgery!  Vision therapy gets excellent results no matter how old the patient is.