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What is amblyopia?
The eyes of young children will not develop correctly unless vision is good. Sometimes, the vision in one eye is much worse than the vision in the other eye. When this happens, the brain will start to "ignore" the eye with worse vision. This actually makes the vision in that eye even worse. This condition is called amblyopia. It is often referred to as "lazy eye". Amblyopia is a dangerous condition. If it is not treated at a young age, an eye with amblyopia eventually can develop severely diminished vision.
Why do children get amblyopia?
Some children cannot see well in one eye because there is something that blocks light from getting through. More often, however, amblyopia happens because one eye has much better focus than the other. For example, one eye might be very nearsighted. Objects that are far away will look very blurry to this eye. If the other eye is not nearsighted, the same far-away objects will be focused clearly by that eye.
The brain cannot put the blurry image and the clear image together in the way that we usually see. Instead, the brain will start to ignore the blurry image. If this goes on for months or years, the vision in the eye that sees the blurry image will start to deteriorate. Not only will the image be blurry, it will get very dim. The eye can also stop moving normally, and it might stay turned away to the side. This is why amblyopia is sometimes called "lazy eye."
Another cause of amblyopia is crossed-eyes or eyes that do not work together. This problem, called strabismus, can cause double vision. In order to avoid this double vision, the brain might start to ignore the image from one eye, causing vision to deteriorate.
The important thing to remember is that amblyopia often starts before there is any obvious sign that something is wrong. This is why babies and young children need to have their eyes checked at regularly scheduled appointments with the doctor.
How is amblyopia treated?
Only a doctor can recommend the right treatment for a child with amblyopia, and that requires a careful examination.
First, any of the problems that cause amblyopia will have to be treated. After the doctor makes sure that the eye is moving correctly, is allowing light to pass through, and is in focus, the right treatment for amblyopia can be recommended.
The most common treatment is to force the brain to start using the eye with amblyopia by putting a patch over the "good" eye. At first, the child will have a hard time seeing with just the weaker eye. It is very important to keep using the patch, however, because this will force the eye with amblyopia to "work harder." Eventually, the vision in the eye with amblyopia will get better. This could take weeks, months, or even a year. But if the child keeps using only the eye with amblyopia, the vision will continue to improve. After the doctor determines that the vision is back to normal, the patch will never be needed again.
For some children with mild amblyopia, the doctor might recommend using an eye drop called atropine in the "good" eye instead of a patch. Atropine makes it impossible for that eye to focus close-up. This forces the eye with amblyopia to do most of the work while the child is playing with toys, eating, drawing, reading and so on. This can also improve the vision in the eye with amblyopia, but it is not always as successful as an eye patch.
Your doctor will be able to tell you what treatment is right for your child.
How successful is treatment to correct amblyopia?
When other eye problems are treated, and the treatment for amblyopia is started early enough, most children will regain normal vision.
In order for treatment to be successful, however, it must be started as soon as possible. Amblyopia becomes much more difficult to treat after about 6 years of age. And if there is too much vision lost in the eye with amblyopia, it might be impossible to get it all back.
It is also important to follow all of your doctor's advice about treatment. This can be very difficult, because many children do not want to wear an eye patch every day. But if the child is allowed to take the eye patch off, he or she will resume using only the "good" eye to see. |
