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Strabismus affects not only children but also adults, resulting in issues with vision and self-confidence. CEENTA's eye care specialists can treat this condition through surgical and nonsurgical means.
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Strabismus refers to misaligned eyes. Esotropia (“crossed” eyes) occurs when the eyes turn inward. Exotropia occurs when the eyes turn outward. When one eye is higher than the other, it is called hypertropia (for the higher eye) or hypotropia (for the lower eye). Misaligned eyes can be subtle or obvious, and can occur occasionally or constantly. It can affect one eye or both eyes.
Strabismus can occur in both children and adults and usually begins in infancy or childhood. Strabismus usually begins in infancy or childhood. The most common cause of eye misalignment in children is accommodative esotropia. This is eye crossing that is associated with a child being farsighted and needing focusing help. This is usually treated with glasses.
There are many different types of strabismus which can be present in childhood or acquired in adulthood. There are a variety of reasons why someone can acquire misalignment of the eyes. Having an evaluation by a pediatric ophthalmologist is imperative to assist in diagnosis and determine best treatment.
When young children develop misaligned eyes, they typically have mild symptoms. They may hold their heads to one side if they can use their eyes together in that position. Or, they may close or cover one eye when it deviates, especially at first. Adults, on the other hand, have more symptoms when they develop misaligned eyes. They have double vision (see a second image) and may lose depth perception. At all ages, strabismus is disturbing. Studies show school children with significant misaligned eyes have self-image problems.
Amblyopia (“poor vision”, or a "lazy eye") is closely related to misaligned eyes. Children learn to suppress double vision so effectively that the deviated eye gradually loses vision. It may be necessary to patch the good eye and wear glasses before treating the strabismus. Amblyopia does not occur when both eyes deviate, and adults do not develop amblyopia.
Misaligned eyes are often treated by surgically adjusting the tension on the eye muscles. The goal of surgery is to get the eyes close enough to perfectly straight that it is hard to see any residual deviation. Surgery usually improves the conditions though the results are rarely perfect. Results are usually better in young children. Surgery can be done with local anesthesia in some adults, but requires general anesthesia in children, usually as an outpatient. Prisms and Botox injections of the eye muscles are alternatives to surgery in some cases. Eye exercises are rarely effective.
CEENTA has strabismus specialists in SouthPark, Belmont, Blakeney, Huntersville, Matthews, Statesville, and University.
