Understanding lazy eyes in kids

Do other kids call your child silly nicknames, such as wonky or cross-eyed because of lazy eye? Don’t be sad over it. They are able to see the world in a way that most people just can’t.

Lazy eye in kids is common and isn’t a curse, not for Daniel Radcliffe at least. In an interview, the star revealed that his slightly lazy eye is what helped him land his first-ever gig. His unintended eye twitch in the audition was mistaken for his confidence and he got a call back from the director. Now isn’t that a cool story?

Even some of the most gorgeous faces on earth like Ryan Gosling and Kate Moss have lazy eyes. So I guess it isn’t all that bad after all. Also, this term is not politically correct. So, people use the medical term for lazy eye which is Amblyopia. Let’s talk about it in a little more detail.

What is a ‘Lazy Eye’ in Kids/Amblyopia?

Amblyopia is a childhood condition where your kid is unable to see clearly out of one eye. However, it is a common problem that could be treated with prescription eyeglasses.

If your child also has this problem, there is nothing wrong with their eye structure. According to experts, the eye-brain connection is slightly off and hence the low visual acuity.

In most cases, this condition only affects one eye but it could also occur in both of them. If treated promptly, your kid won’t have to deal with poor eyesight in the future.

Lazy eye in kids is common as they are still in the phase of ocular development. Regular eye tests are crucial to prevent further decline in eyesight or complete vision loss in one eye.

Take your kid to Specscart and get a free eye test for them. The process is different than it is for adults. We use specially designed charts to help children recognise shapes and images. The entire process is child-friendly and fun. You kids will love it.

What Gives Away a Lazy Eye/Amblyopia?

Because it happens with kids, the problem can be quite difficult to diagnose on your own. But, there are certain symptoms you must not let go unnoticed. Some of these are -

• Blurry vision in one or both eyes
• Not being able to focus on an image with one eye. This puts more pressure on the other eye as it has to make up for the affected eye.
• Double vision
• Both eyes work separately due to weak coordination
• Loss of depth when looking at an image with lazy eye

Generally, one eye is facing straight forward while the other one could be facing upward, downward, inward or outward.

Different people feel differently about this condition. While for some, it’s their identity, some has made it a cool party trick. Not all lazy eyes are designed the same. The disorientation in some people is quite difficult to spot.

What Causes Lazy Eye?

It is usually caused by an underlying condition that impedes your child’s visual development. It lowers the reaction times in one or both eyes.

Based on its underlying causes, this problem has three types.

1. Strabismic Amblyopia

When your eyes are symmetric, the brain blocks the signals from the misaligned eye to avoid distorted vision leading to amblyopia in the affected eye. This condition is called strabismic amblyopia.

2. Refractive Amblyopia

Even when your eyes are perfectly aligned, this problem could still surface when one of them has a refractive error. For instance, one eye could have uncorrected myopia to a slightly higher extent than the other.

In this situation, the brain only interprets signals from the eye with less uncorrected refractive error and ignores the other one. The lack of use of one eye leads to refractive amblyopia.

3. Deprivation Amblyopia

In this condition, one eye is unable to see clearly than the other and becomes weaker over time. It could either be due to corneal ulcer, droopy eyelid, glaucoma or congenital cataract in a baby’s eye.

How to Fix The Lazy Eye in Kids?

In the case of refractive amblyopia, you can get a perfect vision in both eyes by using corrective glasses. This option is more affordable and successful in most cases. You can get cheap prescription glasses from us to fix the refractive amblyopia in your child’s eye.

However, you can also use a patch on the eye that’s working perfectly fine. This will enable your brain to use more visual signals sent by the affected eye. This will make room for normal vision development in that particular eye.

You will have to wear the patch for a few hours for a couple of days. However, the time period may increase depending on the severity of the misalignment of your eyes. The eye patching technique is more commonly used to treat strabismic amblyopia.

But if your kid is fussy, he/she may not let the patch stay put. Therefore, this method won’t work with them. You can get them specially designed glasses where the advanced lenses keep the light from penetrating the good eye.

There are atropine eye drops that blur vision in the good eye. This makes your child use the eye with amblyopia more often and escalates its development. But this process is not safe for children as the constant dilation leads to other vision problems such as light sensitivity or paralysis of the ciliary muscle.

The Safest Option to Fix Lazy Eyes in Kids?

When it comes to your children, you never want to take risks, especially if the risks could damage their eyes. Using eyeglasses is the safest choice to fix lazy eyes in kids. They will have to wear these glasses all the time so the eye specialist can check how effectively they are fixing the vision problems in the affected eye.

Get in touch with our opticians to get customized prescription glasses online for the particular amblyopia your child has. It’s common for kids to claim their eyesight has gone better when it clearly hasn’t. They do it to get away from the hassle of wearing glasses. But, with our kids-friendly frames, they will fall in love with their specs and happily wear them all the time.

If you are an adult with this problem, consult your eye doctor to determine the safest option for you. You could either go for lazy eye surgery to adjust the positioning of your eye muscles. But this surgery is not a foolproof way to correct vision in the affected eye.

Amblyopia won’t disappear on its own. And if you leave it untreated, your kid will have to face more challenging visual problems in the future. The goal should always be to improve visual acuity. Your misaligned eyes are beautiful as they are.