Lazy eye syndrome, also known as ambylopia, is a condition where the eyes do not work together to create one combined image from the right and left eye, usually causing decreased vision in one eye, double vision, and other problems. Treating lazy eye can be difficult, as the brain will stop using the inferior eye. This can cause the unused eye to become weaker, and eventually blindness can develop. One lazy eye treatment is vision therapy, which will change the way the way the brain uses the eye. Orthopics is another treatment option for the muscles of the eye, and there are surgical procedures that can be done to improve the cosmetic appearance of the eye.
Vision therapy is a lazy eye treatment that uses exercises to improve the patient’s ability to control his eye movements, ability to focus, the alignment of the two eyes, and eye teaming. It is done with a physician in weekly sessions to enhance a person’s visual motor skills and improve the way their brain controls his or her vision, and may employ prism lenses, optical filters, and computer training programs during these sessions. Sometimes an eye patch is prescribed to cover the dominant eye, which forces the person to use the weaker eye and increases the strength and vision of the eye. Corrective eye wear and contacts are sometimes used as a lazy eye treatment to correct the vision difference between the two eyes. Eye drops are sometimes administered in the dominant eye to create blurred vision, causing the other weaker eye to be used more.
Orthopics deals only with the muscles of the eyes during lazy eye treatment. A physician works to strengthen the surrounding muscles to increase the ability of the eyes to move together. Orthopics also addresses the person’s vision clarity. This type of muscle exercise may also be incorporated into vision therapy to strengthen the eye, which is extremely beneficial for young children because it changes the way the brain and vision centers function.
Eye surgery is sometimes a lazy eye treatment option, but it usually only fixes the appearance of the eye. The muscles are detached and stretched during the procedure to make the eye face straight ahead. This will not correct the neurological problems that prevents the person from combining the images from their left and right eye into one image. The cosmetic appearance of the eye may not appear straight until a number of surgeries to change the position of the eye are completed. Many times the eye will deviate back to its original position.
