Amblyopia or “lazy eye”
Amblyopia or “Lazy Eye”
- Affects 5% of the general population.
- After the age of 10, it is difficult to correct and may become chronic.
What is "Lazy Eye"?
Amblyopia, commonly referred to as "lazy eye," is a condition caused by low vision in one or both eyes due to lack of use during the child’s visual development (usually before the age of eight). It originates in childhood, but if not diagnosed and treated early, it can persist into adulthood.
What Causes Amblyopia?
The main causes include:
- Strabismus: When the eyes are misaligned and point in different directions. The child’s brain, which has a great ability to adapt, suppresses the vision in one eye to avoid double vision.
- Refractive error: If a child has hyperopia, astigmatism, or myopia, the brain may focus on the clearer image from the eye with less refractive error.
- Other conditions: Cataracts, ptosis (drooping eyelid), and retinal diseases can interfere with normal vision development.
How Can It Be Prevented?
Early detection is crucial to treat amblyopia and prevent it from continuing into adulthood. Children should undergo an ophthalmic examination before the age of three. A paediatric ophthalmologist can examine even small or uncooperative children to detect amblyopia.
Symptoms of Amblyopia
Signs that a child may have abnormal vision include:
- Family members cannot be easily identified from a distance.
- Objects need to be held close to the eyes.
- One eye deviates from the normal position.
Since children may develop well with the healthy eye, amblyopia may go unnoticed until a routine eye exam detects the issue.
Treatments for Amblyopia
The treatment focuses on correcting the underlying cause (e.g., strabismus, refractive error, drooping eyelid) and encouraging the lazy eye to work. This is typically achieved by patching the healthy eye over a period of time, the duration of which depends on the severity of the amblyopia and the age of the child.
Other methods to penalize the healthy eye include:
- Dilating eye drops to blur the vision in the good eye.
- Prescription glasses that correct the vision in the good eye, making it less effective.
The goal is to stimulate the lazy eye by forcing it to work harder.