Lazy Eye - Amblyopia

Amblyopia, Strabismus, Eye Turn, and Lazy Eye are all similar. Amblyopia refers to decreased vision from the body selecting one eye over the other during development.

This can be due to a difference between prescriptions of the two eyes, or poor eye alignment.

Refractive Amblyopia refers to a difference between the prescriptions of the eyes, and the brain selects to develop the eye that can see clearer.

Strabismic Amblyopia means there is a problem with alignment of the two eyes. The brain decides to use the dominant eye, and shuts off the non-dominant eye so it doesn't see double. If the eye is not being used to see, it will not develop fully.

The prognosis for improving vision in an amblyope, usually depends on age. The younger a patient is, the better the prognosis. However, if a person is highly motivated, and receives vision therapy, there is still a good chance of improving vision.

It is important to treat the "lazy eye" carefully. Surgical intervention should be a last resort. It is extremely important to have the person learn to use the eyes correctly, and try to fix the problem themselves in therapy. Surgery may align the eyes quickly, but not necessarily accurately. Many times in addition to horizontal ocular misalignment, surgery can cause vertical ocular misalignment. This can cause double vision, or suppression (shutting off) of the non-dominant eye.