Strabismus: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

Strabismus, commonly referred to as “crossed-eye” or “squint”, is a disorder of the eyes, predominant in young children, in which the patient does not look at the same point with both eyes. This is due to an abnormality in the muscles that control the movement of the eyes, which affects the coordination of vision from both eyes. This results in a misalignment in the eyes, and an inability of the brain to merge the vision of the left and the right eye. The disorder should be treated in childhood, because it becomes more difficult to treat with age. It can be damaging to a child’s self-esteem, and can lead to certain disorders like amblyopia (lazy eye).
Causes:

• The disease is believed to run in families.
• It can result from the eye’s attempt to compensate for other disorders in the vision, like far-sightedness and cataract.
• Congenital weakness of the nerves and muscles.
• Premature birth
• Head injury
• Other diseases like Grave’s disease, Down’s syndrome, eye tumor, brain tumor etc.
• Eye injury
• Damage to the blood vessels supplying blood to the eyes.

Symptoms:

• Visible misalignment of the eyes.
• Inability to move both eyes together in the same direction.
• Difficulty in keeping one or both eyes open in bright sunlight.
• Involuntarily tilting the head to focus on an object.
• Limited depth perception, leading to improper judgement.
• Excessive tiredness in the eyes.
• Blurred vision
• Double vision
• Sensitivity to light

If you notice crossed eyes in your newborn baby, you do not need to panic, because this might be a case of pseudostrabismus, which usually corrects itself in around 4 months. However, if the problem persists after 4 months, you need to see an ophthalmologist, who will decide the best cure for your child’s disorder.

Treatment:

• Wearing glasses/ contact lenses to correct vision problems
• An eye patch can be used to cover the stronger eye in patients with amblyopia (lazy eye). This forces the unused eye to focus on objects, making its muscles stronger, and hence aid in the correct alignment of the eyes. This patch might need to be worn for a few months.
• Surgery is usually the most effective form of treatment of the disorder. It aims at improving the alignment of the eyes and making vision better. Multiple surgeries might be needed, and your child might still need to wear glasses even after surgery.
• Eye exercises can improve the condition to some extent.

To know more about Strabismus and its treatment, visit us at Killeen Eyecare Center 416, North Gray Street, Killeen, TX 76541, and Downtown Killeen or call us at 254-634-7805.

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