Lazy Eye (Amblyopia)

A lazy eye is when the vision of one of your eyes doesn’t develop the way it should. Doctors also call this amblyopia. Without treatment, your brain will learn to ignore the image that comes from the weaker eye. That could cause permanent vision problems.

Signs of a Lazy Eye

Amblyopia starts in childhood, usually between ages 6 and 9. Identifying and treating it before age 7 brings the best chances of fully correcting the condition.

Common symptoms include:

• Trouble telling how near or far away something is (depth perception)
• Squinting or shutting one eye
• Head tilting

Lazy Eye Causes

Doctors don’t always know what’s behind some cases of amblyopia. Causes may include:

• Refractive errors. One eye might have much better focus than the other. The other eye could be nearsighted or farsighted. Or it could have astigmatism (distorted or blurry vision). When your brain gets both a blurry image and a clear one, it starts to ignore the blurry one. If this goes on for months or years, vision in the blurry eye will get worse.
• Strabismus. This is when your eyes don’t line up the way they should. One could turn in or out. People who have strabismus can’t focus their eyes together on an image, so they often see double. Your brain will ignore the image from the eye that isn’t aligned.

Lazy Eye Risk Factors

A child might be more likely to have a lazy eye if they:

• Were born early (premature)
• Were smaller than average at birth
• Have a family history of amblyopia or other eye conditions
• Have developmental disabilities

Lazy Eye Complications

If treatment starts too late, the vision loss of amblyopia might be permanent because links in the body’s visual system don’t form the way they should.

Lazy Eye Treatment

It’s important to start treatment for amblyopia as soon as possible. Depending on the cause, it might involve:

• Correcting any underlying vision problems such as nearsightendess, farsightedness, or astigmatism. Most kids with amblyopia also need glasses to help their eyes focus.
• Surgery, if a cataract is blocking light from their eye or if strabismus keeps their eyes from moving together the way they should
• Wearing a patch over the strong eye to force their brain to use the weak one. At first, your child will have a hard time seeing. Their vision will get better, though it might take weeks or months. After that, they won’t have to wear the patch all the time. But sometimes, when kids go back to using both eyes, they lose some vision in the weak eye. If that happens, they might have to wear the patch again.

Media Contact:
Sarah Rose
Journal Manager Journal of Eye Diseases and Disorders
Email: eyedisorders@emedsci.com
Whatsapp:+1-947-333-4405