Amblyopia (Lazy Eye) Facts, Cure & Prevention
Amblyopia, more commonly referred to as lazy eye, is an optical disorder in which one eye has trouble focusing or providing visual feedback to the brain, despite treatment with corrective lenses. Although amblyopia typically occurs unilaterally (in one eye), in rare cases the condition can affect both. Being a developmental disorder, amblyopia typically begins during a child's early years, between the ages of a few months and seven years. Even so, it can be easy for parents and children to ignore the signs of lazy eye, and the condition is often not discovered until later in life.
Symptoms of Amblyopia
Although the initial signs and symptoms of amblyopia usually manifest during infant development, they can be difficult to spot. A child that has trouble aligning their eyes or is sometimes "cross-eyed" may be displaying some of the earliest signs of amblyopia, and should have their vision examined by a professional pediatric ophthalmologist as soon as possible. A younger child with amblyopia may complain or whine when one of their eyes is covered, because they're upset that their favored eye is being covered, causing them to see only a blurred image. As an adolescent or young adult these symptoms are much easier to notice, and are typically characterized by noticeably blurred vision or alignment problems in one or both eyes.
Causes of Amblyopia
Amblyopia is usually caused by strabismus, another closely related visual development disorder that impairs the ability of the extraocular muscles to control the eyeball, thereby affecting the alignment and coordination of the afflicted eye. When the eyeball strays inward (esotropia strabismus) or outward (exotopia strabismus) the brain ignores the optic signal to prevent the perception of double vision, resulting in lazy eye. Being the most common cause, Strabismus is often confused with amblyopia, and the terms are often used interchangeably. Lazy eye caused by strabismus (strabismic amblyopia) is one of two main types of amblyopia.
Rarely, lazy eye can be caused by differences between the eyes' refractive errors (imperfections in the way the eyes refract light). It is not uncommon for someone to have one eye that is more accurate than the other. However, in some cases if the "bad" eye has a severe refractive error, the brain may ignore the signals from this eye, resulting in lazy eye. This type of lazy eye is called anisometropic amblyopia, or refractive amblyopia.
Amblyopia Treatment and Prognosis
Treatment and prognosis for amblyopia depends on the cause and the age/vision of the patient. The rarer type, refractive amblyopia, is the easiest to treat because contact lenses or glasses can be used to quickly correct the refractive errors in both eyes. The more common type, strabismic amblyopia, may need to be corrected using strabismus surgery to straighten the eye muscles. Eye patching is typically used in conjunction with both types of treatment, as patching the good eye will force developmental priority towards the lazy eye.
Sometimes orthoptics (vision therapy), is also implemented to help train the eye muscles to work smoothly in unison. If amblyopia is discovered at a young age, it may be possible to use atropine eye drops as a substitute for an eye patch. These eye drops are applied to the good eye, causing its vision to become blurry and resulting in similar results without the hassle of making sure the child keeps the eye patch on at all times. The prognosis for amblyopia tends to worsen with age, and the highest treatment success rates can be seen in young children that are still in the process of developing their vision. Although most people with amblyopia experience only minor vision problems, untreated amblyopia can result in significant vision impairment, even to the point of legal blindness in severe cases. In fact, lazy eye is the most common cause of vision impairment in individuals under the age of 40.
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