Squint and vision therapy

[Laksv]

My 3 year old DD has a squint (alternating between both eyes) from the time she was 2.Two ophthalmologists we consulted have recommended surgery .Would like to know whether any one else has any experience with Vision therapy as an alternative to Surgery or any other less invasive treatment which would resolve the issue?

No - but we did patching up until the squint alternated between the eyes, which we were told was the best time to perform the surgery. The surgery was very quick and his squint was sorted. What are your concerns with surgery?

She's too little at the moment for vision therapy anyway.
What's the angle of the squint? If it's a large angle it's not possible to build up fusional reserves enough anyway.

If she has equal vision in both eyes (i.e. both eyes see the same amount of letters on the chart), the quicker you get it sorted the more chance she has of getting normal binocular vision with proper depth perception.

I'm 28 and have had a squint since I was born. My left eye is extremely lazy and my eye goes inwards excessively if I'm tired or if something is too close to my face.

I've been teased about it for years. The stronger my lenses get (I'm minus 9) the worse the squint gets.

My mother refused surgery at a young age in fear of the squint ending up going outwards. Sadly for me, that meant I had to grow up with it getting worse and worse.

Two years ago, I decided to have surgery to correct it. The muscles behind my left eye needed to be tightened, and apparently for them to do that they had to operate on my right eye to loosen the muscle of that eye. (Apparently they are connected so what you do to one counter acts the other)

The surgery did fuck all. I'm still left struggling with it and ended up in pain for no reason whatsoever.

IMO, id opt for surgery sooner rather than later.

I had a poorly controlled squint - not bad enough to notice until I was about 7yrs. I had prisms until an operation at 11yrs which was successful for a few years then an operation at about 14 yrs which was successful until about 23yrs then another operation which was very successful until I was 40 years. Unfortunately they have run out of muscles to operate on so it is back to prisms until it is bad enough for Botox.

Because I had some control I have excellent 3D vision and relatively equal sight in both eyes. The operations were all straightforward, other than I am allergic to particular eye drops.

I am pleased I had the operations and would have another one if I could.

There are exercises that I can do to help but they are not a cure just help if my eyes are particularly tired.

Ahh yes, that reminded me because of what @lorisparkle said. My op was also meant to correct my need for prisms. That was unsuccessful 😂

Thanks a lot everyone.With surgery what we understand is that we will have to do it multiple times in some children/adults , and there are risks of general anesthesia and eye infection.So was exploring more about Vision therapy and If it could resolve the issue ,thought would give it a try .She has a moderate squint , more noticeable if she is tired.From the responses ,probably it looks like surgery is the most viable option currently available.But if anyone had any luck at all with Vision therapy ,kindly share the experience and the name of Vision therapist.We are planning to do surgery before or in reception year ,so have a little more time to try other options.

Although yes there are risks from surgery, especially eye infection to which I had from mine, it may be worth that risk and best to do before your child starts school for healing purposes.

Please don't put it off in fear of potential risks. I wish my mother had allowed me to have the surgery earlier on as a child. I would have been the same age as your child.

Laksv - sorry I wasn't clear - I am an Optometrist who does vision therapy and she can't do it yet as she's too young.
They need to be at least 5 - but you don't want to leave it that long to do something about it, as the "plastic" area for visual development in the visual cortex in the brain is small. Each month that you leave it will reduce her chances to get normal binocular vision.