Amblyopia, Lazy Eye

Lazy eye (Amblyopia)

Amblyopia is defined as the decrease best visual acuity in one eye without any identifiable organic cause in the eye or in the visual pathway.

It is usually developed early in life and affects both eyes.

Symptoms

Following are the signs and symptoms of amblyopia:

• Head tilting
• Strabismus
• Eyes don’t work in coordination
• Poor perception
• Eyes move inward or outward

Causes

Amblyopia develops when there is any resistant between the visual pathway, retina to the brain cortex then the brain ignores the stimulus from the weaker pathway and then the weaker eye produces the blurred images or no image at all. Causes of lazy eye include:

• Refractive errors
• Strabismus amblyopia
• Stimulus deprivation
• Cataract
• Lens opacity

Complications

Vision loss is the complication of amblyopia.

Diagnosis

To diagnosis the amblyopia your doctor does an eye examination by using eye drops to dilate the pupil for better assessment. Examination method depend on the child ages following are the two methods to diagnosis the lazy eye:

• Children age 3 or more. Using letters and pictures to check the visual acuity by covered one eye.
• Children were less than age 2. By doing light  reflex and by fixation method.

Treatment

Treatment should be started as early as possible when amblyopia detected. treatment options include:

• Eye patches
• Glasses to correct the refractive error
• Opaque eye lens to cover the normal eye
• Eye drops to blur the vision in a normal eye
• Surgery for cataracts