What is amblyopia?

Amblyopia, commonly known as the "lazy eye", is a visual disorder affecting up to 2 or 3 percent of children under six years of age. Children with amblyopia experience a significant loss of vision in one eye, causing loss of stereoscopic vision and possible blindness in the affected eye. This is not a condition that can be treated with glasses or other traditional methods. Amblyopic children may have two relatively healthy eyes, but the connection between one of these eyes and the brain has not fully developed during early childhood. If the child takes the form of strabism, in which one eye remains continuously balanced, then Amblyopia could also develop. However, many amblyopic children have a normal eye alignment, so parents and family doctors may not recognize all symptoms. Only a qualified pediatric EYE doctor can reveal the presence of real amblyopia.

Amblyopia treatment depends on the patient's age and the severity ofThose suffering. Since the unaffected eye becomes so dominant, most therapeutic programs include the forcing of the second eye to take over visual work for a while. Amblyopic children may have to wear stains above the dominant eye or use atropine drops to cause blur. These methods force the affected eye to strengthen its connection with the visual bark. Sometimes surgery can be performed for correction of strabism, but amblyop symptoms can continue without therapy.

If the affected eye restores its connection with the visual cortex of the brain, the child may be mounted on prescription glasses if necessary. One of the common causes of amblyopia is a significant difference in the visual acuity of each eye. The brain decides to process the eye information with the least amount of distortion. Treatment of amblyopia in older children or adults has not always been so successful because the brain becomes very comfortable with images created by a "good eye" over time. Early diagnosis and treatment is thereforeVery important to the child and his parents.