Lazy eye, squints, glasses etc.....

[cheekyginger]

Im an orthoptist (binocular vision specialist) and a mummy.

I thought i would start this thread in case anyone was wanting any advice, re-assurance, opinions about any eye problems that you wee ones are having.

Thank you so much cheekyginger - very reassuring DD is wearing them more and isn't complaining about blurriness anymore. Maybe the optician was a bit old school! Just waiting for DS's glasses now. He's short-sighted and apparently its quite bad [shocked]

it was very kind of you to reply

Thank-you cheekyginger for answering . We walked into the opticians yesterday and I told the receptionist that I think we are experiencing double vision (he wears his glasses all the time) and they managed to 'squeeze us in' today. His 'weak' eye turned in instantly he was shown the toy-on-a-stick (this is new) and the optician phoned the guy we see at the hospital who is sending us an appointment out. I'm feeling really happy that we were taken seriously and action was taken. I asked about prisms and was told they would only be used as an absolute last resort. Any idea why? Also, I wonder why his 'good' eye is changing from +100 a year ago to +150 today. I'm wondering if he'll ever learn to read.

Oops, just read back my post and frightened myself that maybe my little boy will just keep deteriorating until he can't see much at all. Does this happen? He wears his glasses all the time (except for swimming). How bad do eyes have to be before they're considered a special need or disability? His weak eye is +475. She said a stronger lens might stop his eye from turning but would reduce his visibility.

Hi yes I'm in the uk. He has a check up in October but think I'm going to ask them if we can try glasses etc first. It was my health visitor and GP that mentioned surgery and they said its better to get it done when they're younger rather then older . But I guess ill wait and see what the ophthalmologist says as they're the experts. He apparently has a very wide "bridge" if that makes sense and in some photographs has one whir eye and one red eye. He seems to have a lot of problems as he also had immature tear ducts (which have thankfully corrected themselves)

Thank you for your reply. No tests have been done but the orthoptist said she had none yet at times her eyes are straight. Am so confused bout it all. Just hoping having no binocular vision will not affect her much. Is it just with an alternating squint that this happens? Sorry for all the questions.

What's the difference between an alternating squint and a "normal" squint?

Thanks cheekyginger. Sorry I put - instead of +. She is def long sigthed and not short.

The opticican didn't call the hospital, just referred us back to them. Not sure how long the referral will take. It's just a bit frustrating to get different opinions.

Hi, I know this discussion is for moms with young children experiencing eye problems, but it came up on my google search when I was looking for answers on the web. This is probably weird then, but it seems like people are getting great advice, so I'll give it a shot. I'm a 21 year old who has had a lazy eye my entire life. It floats quite a bit I suppose, but not noticeable enough to really bother me. My friends tease me because it gets worse when I'm tired, have had a few drinks, or if I'm upset, etc. Lately I've noticed it floating a lot more and in a more chronic way if that makes sense. I've had several people not realize that I'm talking to them which usually only happened to me once in a while on a bad day. I'm actually starting to get a little self conscious about it which I never used to feel. I'm just trying to see if there is something I'm doing to make it worse or if there's something I can do to make it better. My mom thinks it's either stress or allergies. I'm getting enough sleep, so I ruled that out. Thoughts?

Hi Jami74,
Try not to panic about his prescription. A high prescription does not make some one visually impaired. For example a person with +11.00 can see 20/20 and therefore have normal vision with their glasses on.
By increasing your LO's prescription this may help him control his squint. He may have a convergence excess squint and benefit from bifocals??? Giving extra prescription at near (bifocal) can help reinforce binocular vision on a temporary basis. Good luck at your hospital appointment

Prisms are generally not an option for children as they are not really a long term option. We tend to only use prisms with adults.

Hi Helentres,
There was some research that looked into operating on children as young as possible to see if it gave them a better chance of developing binocular vision. But there has been no firm evidence to suggest this is the case. Our squint specialist would generally wait till a child is at least 9-12 months to see if they require glasses (vast majority of convergent inward turning squints are longsighted). The glasses not only help the vision but they can make the squint smaller.
Wait and see what the eye Dr says .

Helentres and daisy1971
Alternating squint means that the squint swaps from eye to eye, and the vision will be equal. A "normal" squint means that the child has a more dominant eye and they squint with the other eye. Does that make sense A child may have a right convergent squint/left convergent squint or an alternating squint

Hi kmcgovern32,
We see adults with squints on a daily basis. You should go to your optician or GP and ask for a referral to your nearest eye clinic. Might be worth getting assessed to see what is possible. Exercises may be an option. Botulinum toxin can be used to temporarily straighten squints (botox), maybe even surgery. Good luck

Hi EustaciaVye,

Try not to worry too much. Im sure you will just be reassured that all is fine and discharged again!!! Orthoptics/binocular vision type patients are not optomertists strong point. (My DH is sitting beside me nodding - he's an optometrist!)

Ah I see. My son has a "normal" squint then I guess lol. It's just his left eye that turns inwards and on the odd occasion out wards. It's more noticeable when he tired or trying to focus on something. Thanks for your help

Eek! My DD is booked in for surgery next Friday. I am a bit concerned because 2 members of the Orthoptics team had a lengthy debate about whether surgery was suitable.

The Op will sort her squint for far vision, from what I understand, but she is starting to squint for near vision, which this op will make more difficult to treat in the future.

It doesn't help that her squint has measured ridiculously variable from the get go.

And I have just realised I posted at the beginning of this thread, and never thanked you

Thanks for your reply I forgot to say also that the eye doctor said that my daughters glasses are not doing nothing for her squint its just for her vision. For her squint its not being treated its just being monitored do you know why they are doing that As I would rather they did Somethink while she is young then wen she gets older they said she's on the border line dunno wat that means and there waiting to see wat direction it decides to take

Yea to your message also I'm really happy with her improvement in her vision she's doing really well keeping her glasses on so iv been lucky with that she does all ways keep them on apart from when she's playing but eye doctor said that's fine won't do her harm I just hope at our next appointment she can see more lines on the chat could you tell me how many lines on the chart you have to see ?

Good luck MartyrStewart hope it all goes well

Hi kirsty2010,
They just need to be careful they dont do the surgery when she is too young. The squint may change as she gets bigger. So it might be best to wait and see what happens once they have finished improving her vision.
All the eye charts vary. The closer she is to 20/20 the better. In the UK 20/20 is known as 6/6 as we measure it in meters rather than yards. As long as she is improving every visit then this is great

I'm moving house on thursday so will not be logging on for a while, as i will be up to my eyeballs with unpacking

Please continue to use the thread as other mums may be able to give advice etc.... and i will be back x x x

Good luck with the house move cheekyginger

cheekyginger - was contacted by eye unit at hospital today about our re-referral. We have to see an orthoptist and a paediatric consultant. Is that normal? Didn't see a paed last time.

Ah, just read your last post. I will try not to panic :) and good luck with your house move

Hi Cheekyginger.

Firstly I would just like to say....what a wonderful thing you are doing.
I would like re-assurance as much as anything else as unfortunately very little is/was given when we took our child for her eye exams.

We noticed a slight inwards turn in our 2 year daughters left eye. When we took her to the orthoptist for tests we were initially told she has a very slight turn, however this is being made to look worse than it is by the fact our daughter has a wide bridge.

She advised this is something that may go as our daughters features - as well as her eyes develop.

Anyway, she then had an eye test which showed our daughter was slightly long sighted (+2.0 in both eyes) - but otherwise everything was 'beautiful'.

We were then told that the slight turn and long sightedness combined would mean glasses were needed. We were given a prescription and sent on our way.

We did ask what might happen in the future to which the opticians response was that she doesn't have a crystal ball.

Our daughter has never seemed to struggle with close up work or distances so this came as a massive surprise to us.

While I completely get the lack of a crystal ball, it would have been nice to given some re-assurance and even some likely/possible scenarios. i.e. how long might she need glasses. Is there a likelihood surgery might be needed. Should we have any concerns about her future vision?

I'm sure these are things that will be discussed at our next appointment but this is 3/4 months away and we are confused/shell shocked.

Sorry, gone on a bit! Any advice/re-assurance would be great!

Thanks

Alankin - didn't want to leave you without a response while cheeky is busy unpacking. I got some good advice from her a couple of years ago when she first started the thread and was just back to catch up and see what other people were posting. I can't actually believe it was so long ago.

You're not alone in the fact that having a visual problem diagnosed in your child came as a surprise. Children are remarkably resilient at coping with their reality. My DD was diagnosed with amblyopia when 5.5 and had virtually no vision in her weaker eye (she's +6 in one and +2 in the other). We were astounded (shocked, horrified to be honest) as we'd had no idea (although in hindsight the clumsiness, lack of balance etc were indicators) as she'd learned to read, write etc with apparently no problem. She got glasses and underwent 2 years of care under the orthoptist wearing a patch. She also took part in a clinical trial and in total went from not even being able to see the top letter to vision between the 4th and 5th line on a standard chart. She also has binocular vision that is nearly 'normal' - although everyone who tests her finds this surprising given the difference in her vision between the 2 eyes.

DS got glasses at just turned 3 and his vision is appalling - +7 in both eyes, and he also had the start of amblyopia, which is well on the way to improving 1.5 years later. Again we had no idea. He has a really snubby nose and struggles to keep the glasses on, but has worn them full time from day one without problem (possibly because he'd seen DD wearing hers).

Neither of mine have squints so I can't give any insight into that. It is true though that it is very difficult to predict what will happen but from my experience +2 is not actually that bad. We consider DD's eye which is +2 to be her 'good' eye but I know it's all relative. I think the likelihood is that your DD might need some squint surgery at some point, but might not. She might need glasses for the rest of her life, but might not. It's certainly not the social stigma that it was when I was a child - several of DDs friends wanted glasses after she got hers!

I would say that your optician does sound a bit insensitive as this is a signficant thing for a parent to have to deal with. I'd recommend finding an optician that you can build a good relationship with as, if your daughter continues to need glasses etc, you'll spend a lot of time there. We use our local independent optician's which is great - they spend a lot more time than they have to talking to us and providing advice.

Whew, this has turned into a bit of an opus .... but hope it helps and that everything works out for your DD.

BTW, Hi cheeky (when you get back) - hope all is going well and the move went smoothly.

No time to read whole thread.

but had a squint or lazy eye when I was born probably, had operation to correct it at 2 years old followed by glasses and am long sighted in one eye, almost perfect sight in the other.

the glasses, exercises didn't help me at all. when I got to my teens I had headaches (by then was wearing glasses for reading and TV) - now I don't wear them, can see driving licence plates (cars) and drive etc.

will my eyes now get worse? I have perfect (almost in one eye) and I'd say about 70% good vision in the other eye but the other good eye makes up for it. I was told it'd make no difference if I wore contact lenses/glasses now. Now 41 years old.

Hi can any1 tell me anythink they know or have experienced with intermmited squint turning outwards now and then not all the time. Does it have to get worse before they can operate ?? Any1 who has been or has the time advice would be really appreciated can't stop worrying about the outcome for my daughter and waiting every 3montgs to see some1 again is really hard to deal with when I worry to much xx