Lazy eye, also known as Amblyopia, is an illness related to the visual system which is normally characterized by poor sight in an eye that is physically normal otherwise. Nearly 1-5% of the population is affected with this disorder.
Amblyopia is caused either by poor transmission or sometimes, no transfer of the visual image to the brain. It usually affects only one eye but sometimes, if both the eyes are stripped off a clear and good visual image, it can affect both.
If this disorder is detected in the early childhood, there is a higher rate of success in the treatment.
Amblyopia is a problem with the brain and not the eye.
Symptoms:
Most people affected with this disorder, are not aware of their illness until tested in their old age. This is because the vision in their other eye is normal. A person with acute amblyopia may experience related visual illness. Other symptoms of amblyopia are: reduced sensitivity to contrast, low spatial acuity, very low sensitivity to mobility, difficulty in seeing the 3D images in a stereoscopic displays etc.
Treatments
Treatment for Amblyopia involves, glasses, drops, vision therapy and/or patching. The treatment is most effective in children.
Patching only: In this, the person’s eye is covered for 2 to 8 hours a day for 3 months to 1 year. By making the blurry eye work, its vision is corrected.
Patching with surgery: In addition to patching, Surgeons sometimes recommends a surgery for the crossed eye. It makes the eye straight by stretching the muscles, thus repositioning the eye. It is basically a cosmetic fix and has nothing to do with the cure of vision.
Vision therapy: This is the best and highly successful method of developing and curing a lazy eye. It guides and stimulates the visual development, trains the brain to perform visual functions etc. In vision therapy, patching of the clear eye is done, but for shorter period of time.
