Lazy eye is a category of visual disorder that is characterized by vision deficiency emanating from the structural abnormalities in the eye. Currently this disorder affects at least 1% of the entire world population. There are two distinctive types of lazy eye disorder namely Amblyopia and Strabismus.
Amblyopia is mainly as a result of anomalies in the occipital lobe in the brain. Strabismus on the other hand is associated with improper alignment of the eyes. In colloquial terms strabismus is also referred to as 'eye squint' or 'crooked eye.'
These two conditions can be corrected through medications and visual therapies but in the event that these methods fail, then a complete eye surgery is inevitable. Let us now focus our attention on the treatment procedures for correcting these two conditions.
Treating Amblyopia
The main cause of Amblyopia is the presence of poorly developed nerves that fail to conduct proper visual signals from the retina to the optical section of the brain. Amblyopia may also occur as a result of unequal refractive power in different eyes or occlusion of one eye. Amblyopia usually results in the weakening of one eye which means that too much pressure is redirected to only one eye. As we have seen earlier, surgeries for this condition are recommended after all other medication and therapeutic procedures have failed.
Non-Surgical Methods
The most preferred non surgical method for dealing with Amblyopia is by 'training the eye to see again.' This method is widely applied for young kids and its success has received high levels of accreditations.
Another non surgical eye treatment method involves use of contact lenses and corrective glasses.
If all of these methods fail to work then the very last option is to undergo an entire surgical operation in order to directly address the eye problem from its root cause.
Surgery
Intraocular surgery which is also known as IOL surgery is one of the most surgical procedure undertaken to correct Amblyopia. The IOL surgery corrects the refraction imbalance existing in the affected eye. Though this method is also widely accredited by most opticians, the end result is not guaranteed as prognosis can still occur after the surgery. The fact of the matter is despite trying to amend the refractive imbalance existing in the eye, the root problem which lies in the brain centre is not addressed and hence leaving high chances of post surgical prognosis.
laser eye surgery is also used to treat Amblyopia in less advanced cases. This procedure involves surgical removal of the cataracts that cause ocular Amblyopia. It is however always very important to note that despite the possibility of solving the problem of Amblyopia, post eye surgery exercises are still very essential to regain normalcy.
Treating Strabismus
Strabismus is also a very common case of eye disorder under the subcategory of Lazy eye. This disorder mainly affects the extra-ocular muscles of the eye which may fail to focus on one point. Due to this disorder, the eyes fail to align together therefore creating too much pressure on either of the eyes hence impairing vision. The most recommended treatment for strabismus involves a combination of various surgical processes, use of glasses, use of prisms and other vision therapy procedures.
Surgery
Carrying out a surgical process for strabismus is increasingly becoming common nowadays ( for cosmetic purposes). Though the entire process may not succeed in correcting the disorder completely, it has been widely accredited for its immense ability to change the structure and position of the extra ocular muscles. This is done through the following ways:
- In case of weakened extra ocular muscles, the surgical process aims at tightening them.
- In case of tightened muscles the surgical process aims at weakening them.
- In case of poorly positioned eye, the surgical process aims at repositioning it.
Hence the entire surgical procedure may vary from one individual to the other depending on the cause of the disorder.
Usually the entire strabismus surgical procedure takes a few hours and the patient can be released to go back home after a few days. The process also has very minimal pain despite some redness and soaring which fades away within some time. In most cases a post surgery therapy is prescribed in order to help fine tune the affected eyes vision.
