Amblyopia is reduced vision in an eye that has not received adequate use during early childhood.
Amblyopia, also known as “lazy eye,” has many causes. Most often it results from either a misalignment of a child’s eyes, such as crossed eyes, or a difference in image quality between the two eyes (one eye focusing better than the other.)
In both cases, one eye becomes stronger, suppressing the image of the other eye. If this condition persists, the weaker eye may becomes useless.
The earlier the treatment, the better the opportunity to reverse the vision loss. With early diagnosis and treatment, the sight in the “lazy eye” can be restored.
Before treating amblyopia, it may be necessary to first treat the underlying cause. Glasses are commonly prescribed to improve focusing or misalignment of the eyes.
Surgery may be performed on the eye muscles to straighten the eyes if non-surgical means are unsuccessful. Surgery can help in the treatment of amblyopia by allowing the eyes to work together better.
Eye exercises may be recommended either before or after surgery to correct faulty visual habits associated with strabismus and to teach comfortable use of the eyes.
The correction may be followed by: