Lazy Eye

[Gecko]

Has anyone had a child where by one eye sometimes tended to go to the corner of the eye randomly. If so what did you do about it and secondly why does this happen ?

Gecko - how old is your child? You need to get this seen by the optometrist/opthamologist at your clinic or hospital. Your child may need glasses and/or patching

My sister has this. She had an operation to correct it when she was about 6 or 7 IIRC. It was fine for years but when she got to her late teens it started doing it again but only when she is tired, drunk or hungover. Don't know why it happens though.

An op isn't always appropriate though, depends on teh type of squint. But a correct prescription for glasses should help. It needs to be diagnosed first

Forgot to say that sis wore glasses to try and correct it from about 4 but unfortunately for her it didn't work.

Sorry I forget to mention that she is 15 months old, and doesn't crawl or walk. Apparently crawling helps to stimulate the nervous system to help correct this but my daughter seems very comfortable in her comfort zone and doesn't want to do much. She stands aided and will roll around to try to reach things. I am a bit worried

It is definitely possible to evaluate at this age. I would still take her in. If something is wrong, the sooner you start working on it the better.

My advice is to go to an opthamologist ASAP. I have lazy eye. It was spotted when I was very young. baby? toddler? I don't really know at what age. But, at age three I had surgery to correct it. Although mine didn't wander on occassion, it was turning in. Apparently the younger you are for the surgery, the more successful it is. I have never had any problem with it since and I am 35 now so I think it's safe to say I never will. The vision in this eye is not as good as it is in the other eye, but still isn't bad enough for glasses. I did, however, wear glasses for several years after the operation. I suppose this was probably to help prevent it turning back in.

Also, there are two theories on this condition. An opthamoligist (surgeon) believe it is the result of the ouside eye muscles being stronger/ weaker (weaker in my case as the eye was turning in not out). So the treatment was to actually go in and cut the inside muscles to balance them out by wekening the stronger ones. An opthomologist (not a surgeon) believes that the brain just need to be convinced to use the eye and that altering the muscles to straighten the eye is a cosmetic surgery.

I am very glad my parents took the initiative to have the surgery because I have met people with lazy eye in my adult life and talking to them while one eye appears to be focussing on the ceiling really is rather odd... glad other people don;t experience that when talking to me.

When I was a teenager I went to an optomotrist, who suggested the there were eye exercises that could be done to strengthen the muscle further. BUT, that there was a risk that the brain would resist such treatment and respond by turning the eye back in. The optometrist felt there was nothing wrong with the eye physically and that it was more a case of my brain refusing to use it. I didn't want to take the chance of the eye turning in again so I never did the exercises.

I hope this helps. If I were in your shoes, I woul seek out an opthamoligist and an optometrist and see what they advise. I definitely would not stop at the GP or the optometrist. I think the opthemologist point of view is well worth exploring.

Also, I should add that my surgery was in 1973, so beliefs/practices in medicine may have evolved since then.

Good luck to you.

Sorry, last sentence of second paragraph should say optomotrist, not opthamologist.

Agree Uwila.
Brother had an op plus exercises in 1980. Due to his work (TV editor) his eyes are always under strain and has found that he can no longer do the long hours without eye strain.

Both my sister and I have a lazy eye - hers was detected early and she had patches and glasses from a young age but mine wasn't. Although we are both very short-sighted she doesn't have the focussing problems I do (I find visits to the optician reallly difficult as it is so hard to use the affected eye to read the chart). Mine isn't obvious to others thankfully but I so wish it had been picked up when I was young.

My DD also has a lazy eye which I picked up when she was 2.5. She was referred to hospital and monitored but didn't require treatment. However, she does now need glasses (the prescription makes the affected eye work harder and for a while had patches for close work). The optometrist was quite optimistic on our last visit but we go again on Tuesday and I have noticed her eye turning when she's tired so am assuming she will continue to wear her glasses.

It is definitely easier to treat if caught early so get your HV to refer you. My DS has been momitored since he was a year old as a precaution so her age should not be a factor.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the information - We will certainly have it checked out as soon as possible. Infact we have an appointment next week at the Hospital

ooh gp quick then
ds3 has eye problems ( well one problem) and has been going to the clinic since he was 4 months
all sight is not fixed till you are 7 - after then its too late