Amblyopia: What is it?
Amblyopia, more commonly known as lazy eye, occurs when vision in one or both eyes does not develop properly during childhood. More common among babies and young children, this condition is usually caught before age 6 and is reversible if treated at a young age. Without treatment, this can cause reduced vision resulting in the weaker – or lazy – eye to wander inward or outward.1
What are the Signs/Symptoms of Amblyopia?
Although amblyopia can sometimes be hard to detect without a vision exam, here are some of the common signs to look for in children:
- Wandering eye
- Eyes that do not seem to work together
- Squinting or closing an eye
- Head tilting
- Poor depth perception
- Abnormal vision screening results2
What Causes Amblyopia?
There are many things that can cause amblyopia to develop in a child. For example, some risk factors include family history, premature birth, if the child is developmentally disabled, and not getting a comprehensive eye exam before the age of three.3
Amblyopia can also develop from other vision related problems that may be difficult to diagnose in a child. The conditions to be aware of include:
• Refractive Errors: Refractive errors include nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. Children can be born with one of these conditions where one eye is worse than the other. If this is the case, the eye can “turn off” which can influence the child’s visual development.
• Cataracts: Some children can be born with a cataract which causes cloudiness in the eye. This can prevent the child’s vision from developing properly as well.
• Droopy Eyelids: Also known as Ptosis, droopy eyelids can prevent children from seeing clearly.1
How is it Diagnosed?
Amblyopia is diagnosed when an ophthalmologist or optometrist looks at the child’s vision in both eyes. This is done by covering one eye and testing how the child reacts to a moving object with the uncovered eye. A doctor also may be able to tell if the child has amblyopia is if the child tries to remove the covering or look above/below the covering to see the test the doctor is performing.1
What are the Methods of Treatment?
For best results, amblyopia should be treated in some capacity before a child is 7 or 8 years old.1
To treat amblyopia, doctors will often suggest patients work on using their weaker eye. This can be done by placing an eyepatch over the stronger eye, using eye drops in the stronger eye to blur vision, or wear eyeglasses. Over time it is possible for the weaker eye to become stronger, but patients should continue to periodically exercise and strengthen their lazy eye to maintain eye strength.1
In some cases, a doctor may recommend surgery to correct a vision condition that is causing amblyopia. Recent studies have found that Virtual Reality headsets can help children exercise their weaker eye.1
While amblyopia can lead to vision loss if left untreated, it is a manageable condition if diagnosed and treated promptly. For more information on amblyopia, view the helpful video below.
Sources:
1: https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/amblyopia-lazy-eye
2: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lazy-eye/symptoms-causes/syc-20352391
3: https://www.aoa.org/healthy-eyes/eye-and-vision-conditions/amblyopia?sso=y