Lazy Eye – Symptoms, Causes and Treatments!

Lazy Eye – Symptoms, Causes and Treatments that we should not ignore. Furthermore, Lazy Eye is also known as Amblyopia. Lazy Eye is an early childhood condition where a child’s vision in one eye does not develop as it should.

The problem is usually in just one eye , but it can sometimes affect both. When a patient has amblyopia, the brain focuses on one eye more than the other, virtually ignoring Lazy Eye . If this eye is not stimulated properly, visual brain cells do not mature normally.

In the US and UK, amblyopia affects approximately 2% to 3% of all children. It is the most common cause of partial or total blindness in one eye (monocular blindness) in the US. The term Lazy Eye is imprecise, because the eye is not lazy. In fact, it would probably be more accurate to say lazy brain , because it’s a developmental problem in the brain and not an organic problem in the eye .

Causes of Lazy Eye:  Anything that causes a child’s eyes to pop in or out, or anything that clogs their vision can cause lazy eyes. Below are examples of some possible causes:

An imbalance in the muscles that position the eye,  strabismus causing them to cross or draw. Muscle imbalance weakens the ability of both eyes to track objects together (they move in harmony with each other, synchronously, to be aligned). Strabismus can be inherited. It can be the result of prolonged or short vision, a viral illness or an injury.

Anisometropic amblyopia is a refractive error occurs due to myopia ( myopia ), farsightedness (long vision) or astigmatism (the surface of the lens is uneven, causing blurred vision). A refractive error means that light changes direction after passing through the lens differently in each eye . A child with anisometropic amblyopia will be more lie or myopic in one eye than the other, resulting in the development of amblyopia in the eye that is most affected.

Stimulus deprivation amblyopia – this is the most uncommon form of amblyopia. One eye (or sometimes both) is blocked from seeing and becomes lazy. This could be due to:

• A corneal ulcer, a scar, or some other eye disease.
• A congenital cataract  (baby is born with cloudy lens).
• Ptosis ( droopy eye cover ).
• Glaucoma.
• Eye injury.
• Eye surgery.

Lazy Eye Symptoms:  A child with lazy eyes will not be able to focus properly with one eye. The other eye will compensate for the problem, so much so that the affected eye suffers as a result. The eye with impaired vision (amblyopia) will not receive clear images. The brain will not receive clear data and will eventually start to ignore it.

In many cases, the brain  and good eye make up for the deficit so well that the child doesn’t realize he/she has a problem. This is why Lazy Eye is usually first detected after a routine eye exam.

Symptoms of a Lazy Eye  can include:

• Blurry vision.
• Double vision.
• Poor depth perception (of vision).
• The eyes don’t seem to work together.
• A squint (up, down, out, or in).

It is important for a child to have vision control. In most countries, the first eye exam occurs at 3 to 5 years of age. It is especially important to have an eye check early if there is a family history of crossed eyes, childhood cataracts , or other eye conditions. Parents who see their children’s eyes wandering after they are a few weeks old should tell their doctor.

Lazy Eye Treatments:  An ophthalmologist and orthopedist usually treat children withlazy eyes . Treatment tends to be more effective the younger the child. After a child is eight years old, the likelihood of effective treatment drops significantly. However, evidence that brain regions responsible for vision are able to adapt in adults offers new hope for those withlazy eyes .

There are two approaches to treating Lazy Eye :

• Treating an underlying eye problem .
• Getting the affected eye to work so vision can develop.
• Treatment of underlying eye problems.

Many children who have anisometropia uneven vision are unaware that they have an eye problem because the good eye and brain make up for the deficit. Unfortunately, the misunderstanding progressively suffers and amblyopia (blindness) develops.

A Boy With Glasses Reading a Book:  A child with myopia ( myopia ) or farsightedness (wide vision) will be prescribed glasses. The child will have to wear them all the time so the specialist can monitor how effective they are in improving amblyopia (Vision Problems in Lazy Eye ).

Glasses can also get rid of a squint. Sometimes glasses can resolve amblyopia and no further treatment is needed. It’s not uncommon for children to complain that their eyesight is better when they don’t wear their glasses. They need to be encouraged to use them for treatment to be effective. Cataracts can be surgically removed under local or general anesthesia.