Amblyopia
What is Amblyopia?
Amblyopia is also called as lazy eye. It happens in the early years of life when
there is blurring of vision in one eye and the brain ignores the blurred image of that
eye and only uses the eye with a clear image. As the brain depends more on the clear image
the weaker eye vision deteriorates further. An important point to note is that in amblyopia,
while testing vision it will not improve to the fullest even after trying with glasses. Proper
therapy is required to activate the brain and attain good vision. It is a very common cause of
decreased vision in kids.
What are the symptoms of Amblyopia ?
1) Favors one eye when compared to other.
2) Inward or outward deviation of eyes.
3) Frequent blinking or squeezing of eyes.
4) Bumps into objects.
5) No symptoms (hence regular checkups of every child are important).
What causes Amblyopia ?
1) Refractive errors.
2) Squint.
3) Droopy eyelids.
4) Cataract.
5) Corneal opacity.
Also Read: What are Refractive errors?
What are the complications of Amblyopia ?
If not treated properly can cause a permanent decrease in vision but the good part is that if properly treated it can be reversed.
How Amblyopia is diagnosed?
Amblyopia is diagnosed by the health care provider after a detailed eye examination. Vision assessment along with a detailed examination of the posterior
segment is required to give a final diagnosis of amblyopia which will be done by the eye care provider.
Management of Amblyopia -
The treatment starts by giving the required glasses to the child and reassessing after a few weeks to see any improvement. If no improvement is
noted then patching therapy is advised. In this, the stronger eye of the patient is covered with a patch and he or she is asked to use the weak eyes. It is
advised to do near-vision-related work at this time. An important point is to be sure that the child is not using a good eye during the patching time. The
time required to patch will be told by the treating doctor depending on the amount of amblyopia. If the kid has amblyopia in both eyes then both of them
have to be patched alternatively and at this time care has to be taken not to patch the same eye continuously as that might cause weakness of the eyes
with a patch. If the kid is not cooperating with eye patching then a special type of eye drop is advised to be used in good eyes which will blur near vision
hence forcing the child to use another eye. If cataract, squint, or ptosis is the cause of amblyopia then that has to be corrected with the help of surgery
and residual amblyopia left has to be corrected with the help of the above methods. Though there is no definite study with respect to amblyopia treatment
in adults but vision therapy can be tried and we have seen significant improvement in a few patients.
Prognosis of Amblyopia -
Post-surgery prognosis is good if a proper patching method is followed hence it is very important for the family members to understand the disease and
treatment.