When your child was an infant, you widened your eyes, winked, and went cross eyed to make her squeal with delight. As your child develops, however, you notice that her eyes always seem slightly cross eyed, even when she isn’t imitating your antics.
Amblyopia, or lazy eye, occurs in an estimated three percent of children under the age of six. This complex condition can have permanent consequences for your child’s vision, but understanding amblyopia can help you ensure that he or she gets the necessary treatment.
What Is Amblyopia?
Amblyopia is a change in the nerve pathways from the retina to the brain. When this connection weakens, the eye may wander and receive fewer overall visual signals.
If left untreated, the brain may begin to disregard all visual signals sent from the weak eye. Amblyopia can result in blurred vision and lack of depth perception.
There are three main types of amblyopia. The type of amblyopia a child exhibits depends almost exclusively on the cause of the visual disruption.
1. Deprivation Amblyopia
Deprivation amblyopia is the most severe form of this condition and can result in permanent vision loss if left untreated. This form of amblyopia occurs when one eye is deprived of clear visual signals, usually due to another eye health problem such as a cataract.
2. Refractive Amblyopia
If you wear corrective lenses, you know that many people’s eyes have different individual prescriptions. While this divergence is often harmless, large differences between the vision acuity in your child’s eyes can cause refractive amblyopia. Most children with this type of amblyopia develop the condition due to farsightedness, but issues can also develop due to nearsightedness or astigmatism.
3. Strabismic Amblyopia
The most recognizable form of amblyopia occurs due to weakness in the muscles that position your child’s eyes. Strabismus, or turned eye, may make it difficult for your child’s eyes to work in tandem, leading to a cross-eyed appearance. Strabismus is a physical condition, unlike amblyopia, which is a nervous condition. However, when strabismus is left untreated, the brain may begin to ignore signals from the weaker eye, leading to amblyopia.
Keep in mind that while the term lazy eye is usually used in the singular, it is possible for children to develop amblyopia in both eyes.
What Are the Symptoms of Amblyopia?
While you may have an image that comes to mind when you hear the term “lazy eye,” not all cases of amblyopia look the same. In fact, some children do not exhibit eye misalignment at all.
Take your child to an optometrist for testing and diagnosis if you notice any of the following symptoms:
- An eye that turns inward or outward
- Closing one eye when trying to get a better look at an object
- Frequent head tilting
- Frequent squinting
- Poor depth perception, which may manifest as general clumsiness in younger children
You should also prioritize early childhood eye exams for your child if he or she is at particularly high risk for amblyopia. Risk factors include:
- A family history of amblyopia
- Cognitive or developmental disabilities
- Premature birth or low birth weight
While children can successfully be treated for amblyopia until their teens, children who undergo treatment before they reach the age of two have the best overall results.
How Do Eye Doctors Treat Amblyopia?
In most cases, the goal of amblyopia treatment is to naturally strengthen the weaker eye to help your child’s eyes move in tandem more easily. The treatment itself will depend on the cause of your child’s amblyopia and the severity of his or her condition.
Common types of treatment include the following.
Corrective Eyewear
If your child’s amblyopia stems from a vision problem, your eye doctor may prescribe glasses to correct the vision issue. Corrective eyewear may solve some minor cases of refractive amblyopia, but glasses are usually used alongside another treatment method.
Patching
To strengthen the weaker eye, your child’s optometrist may use a medical patch to cover the dominant eye. Patching forces the weak eye to work harder, naturally strengthening its connection to the brain.
Eyedrops
If your child cannot wear a patch for whatever reason, your eye doctor may use atropine eyedrops instead. These drops reduce vision in the stronger eye to encourage better sight in the amblyopic eye.
If your child has strabismic or deprivation amblyopia that does not respond to other forms of treatment, your optometrist may recommend eye surgery. Surgery may be used to improve muscle function or to eliminate the condition causing your child’s deprivation amblyopia.
Has your child shown signs of strabismus or amblyopia? Schedule an appointment at the All About Eyes location nearest you as soon as possible. Early detection and treatment are essential to ensuring that your child has as good of eye health and as accurate of vision as possible throughout his or her life.