Strabismus treatments

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 5:35 pm Post in Eye Diseases

Strabismus is a physical disorder that has several forms of expression. With one eye moving regularly, the other eye may point in, out, up or down, which are called crossed eyes, exotropia, hypertropia and hypotropia respectively. Crossed eye often occurs in newborn babies because of a low vision development. Since strabismus can lead to double vision, blurry vision and amblyopia, early detection and treatment are critical. Parents should take their children to a doctor once any sign is found.

Unlike visual problems such as amblyopia, strabismus is a physical defect, which is caused by unequal pulling of muscles on one side of the eye, or even an ocular muscle paralysis. Among children between two and six years old, some children have accommodative strabismus resulting from farsightedness compensation.

Like amblyopia, strabismus can be treated with patching, visual exercises and eye drops. In addition, bifocal glasses can aid in proper focusing. The most thorough treatment is surgery, which corrects the misaligned eyes. There are still different opinions about the age that is appropriate for children to receive strabismus correction surgery. Some eye surgeons argue that the eye structure of young children is not ready to receive a strabismus surgery, while others think that early strabismus correction is essential for motor skills development.