Lazy eye and hospital.

[EllaAlright]

Hi all.

My nearly 3 year old has developed an eye that is turning inwards (strabismus), so not an actual lazy eye, but apparently there’s a risk of the eye becoming lazy if squints are not treated. Before the lockdown we were referred by the gp and received a letter to book an appointment with orthoptics at the local community hospital. I booked last week online for May and received a letter today stating that it had been cancelled. I thought it was probably due to the virus so didn’t think too much of it, and thought I would just rebook later in the year.

Received a phone call from the big main hospital today saying the consultant wants to see him next week and it’s MDT with an optician and orthoptics as well. I’m just really worried, not only from the virus point of view, but in case it’s anything sinister. I think the virus has heightened my anxiety which is something I do struggle with. Has anyone else’s child had the same?

My now 9yr old had issues with her eyesight where her eyes were so imbalanced that it caused one to turn inwards. She was 4.5 at the time and was prescribed glasses (long sighted) and then a patch to strengthen the eye that turned. She started off with a patch for 6hrs a day finally reducing to 1hrs a day by the time she was 7.5. This worked so well that it meant she didn't need an operation to correct the turn.

They told me they like to deal with it early as once they get to 7yrs it's harder to correct.

My son who is 3years younger was looked at at age 3 and found he needed glasses for his sight, again he is long sighted. If we hadn't caught this when we did he would have also needed patching.

Good luck with the appointment 🤞

I had such a bad squint people used to point it out to my mother. It was corrected in the early 1970s with patching and long sighted glasses. I dont have a squint to look at now but do have much worse vision in that eye. I think they take it seriously because a noticeable squint has been proven to cause all kinds of social and emotional difficulties.

My dsis, who is 70 this year, had similar with her eye turning inwards. As a baby she suffered with teething and had both German measles and whooping cough followed by pneumonia. She had glasses and patches and she was about 4 and half when she had an operation at Great Ormond St. She is long sighted while I'm short sighted.

The hospitals are stopping planned operations and many appointments. It may simply be that they are trying to fit in as many appointments they can before these are stopped.

My 2 year old does. It started turning in when he was 12 months. Hes extremely long sighted and his eye turns as its trying to over correct.
He sees the orthoptist every 4 months (at hospital) for a squint and movement assessment and the optometrist every 12 months (again at the hospital) now for an eye test.

I'll add i was terrified when he was referred by our GP. It started out of the blue and he was seen within a fortnight

My son has seen a couple of opthalmic surgeons because of a cyst by his eye. Absolutely nothing to do with his actual eye or vision, the opthalmic surgeons were just best placed to surgically remove it. Every time he has an appointment, he has to go through the whole rigmarole of having his eyes tested. Once I could understand to rule.out any involvement, but it's been 3 times in 3 months now !

both my children required patching for eye imbalance and squint. My now 14 year old was patched from 2.5 - it works brilliantly if you stick to the patching religiously. My daughter was tested early because of her brother and was found to be ok but then it was discovered when she was 6.5 and the patching didn't work.

Try not to worry.

We have had this with 3 of my dc. 1 had surgery and patches, one had patches and my other dc is on the waiting list for surgery. I've no experience of hospital appointments during lockdown but the MDT appointment in general is really nothing to worry about. It can get long and boring though (we are usually there for 2+ hours) so I would take plenty of things to occupy your dc.

My daughter has just been signed off. They like to see you as soon as possible because the earlier they start any intervention the better they can strengthen the eye. My daughter started at 3 and is now 6, the improvement in her sight is incredible.

I had a lazy eye that wasn't treated early enough and, as a result, my vision in one eye is severely compromised. Whilst not urgent urgent, treatment does need to be started as soon as possible.

My eldest had this, she had it treated with patching and also prescribed glasses. She was signed off at 7, no one has ever mentioned it to her at school. Her eye turn was quite pronounced but with treatment it is not overly noticable especially with her glasses on. The earlier they catch it the better

Yep as @mynameiscalypso said, it needs to treated asap to prevent the vision in the squinting eye becoming lazy. It's possible he just needs glasses, but the quicker the intervention the better chance he has of getting good vision in that eye.

My son goes to the eye hospital and the full whammy of appointments in one is normal - especially for a first visit. He'll have a vision check to test how his eyes function together, a prescription check to see if he needs glasses and a consultant looking into his eyes. Not necessarily in that order.

They are all, without question exceptionally brilliant with children. Take a fidget for him to hold, let the staff do their magic.

Thank you for the responses. My husband had a turn in his eye, astigmatism and now he has glaucoma. I’m not sure if there’s a hereditary link.

Your replies have given me some reassurance.