Turned in eye - self conscious

[SwanShaped]

I’ve had a turned in eye since I was a child. Worn glasses since about 2 years old. Normally, the glasses would straighten the eye when I put them on so it would only be noticeable without glasses or a bit if I was tired. However I’ve noticed over the last few years that this doesn’t seem to be happening anymore and my eye stays turned in even with glasses on. Has anyone else had this? I have an up to date prescription. Optician told me that this couldn’t happen but I felt I was being dismissed. I’m starting to feel self conscious about it in photos and with zoom calls etc. Has anyone tried vision therapy? Or that lazy eye Tetris game? Or had surgery to correct it?

Thanks.

Have you asked your gp to refer you for a specialist opinion?

I've just had surgery for this. Mine got progressively worse over the last couple of years. I had to get more prism in my glasses every six months to correct the double vision.

I hadn’t thought about a GP referral. That’s a good idea. I’ve had this since I was a child and it just kind of became a background thing. I never actually learnt about my eye, in the way that you would learn about a new ‘illness’ as an adult.

keds how was surgery? Did you go private? I don’t know anything about prisms in my glasses. For something I live with everyday, I know remarkably little about glasses. The optician said your eye couldn’t turn in more and I’d just not noticed it before. He just wouldn’t listen to me.

It's a shame your parents didn't address this when you were a child. Have you asked them why? Regardless, surgery could likely correct it.

My parents did. I had surgery as a child and wore a patch for ages too.

Have you some photos of you wearing glasses a few years ago so you can show them the difference?

Mine was driven by my lovely optician. She referred me to GP, who referred me to eye hospital. GP didn't really get involved. I ended up going private, but only because of covid delays.
I think mine was required due to double vision, rather than the actual turning-in. Surgery was ok, much less painful than I'd expected. The GA has knocked me for 6 though. Still not 100%. My eyeball is still bright red! Freaky.

Ok, maybe I’ll start with eye hospital first. Not sure why I didn’t think of that! I don’t have double vision thankfully. But more that I feel really self conscious about it. I don’t really have many photos of me. My hard drive broke and I lost all my photos. (Didn’t back up. Twat) But maybe fb would have some from years ago. Can I ask how much it cost? Don’t think I’d get it on nhs as no double vision. Good that recovery on actual eye isn’t too bad. I don’t remember anything bad when I was a child. Pm if you’d rather.

I also think maybe I need to find a new optician. My last one was nice but the practice closed down

PM'd you.

I do think you need referral to hospital. Do you have sight in the turned eye? It sounds as if the good eye is doing all the work.
I have double vision due to a neurological condition and have a prism in my glasses. I attend the eye clinic every 6 months and they monitor it very carefully.
Your optician sounds a bit too complacent IMO.
I know my condition is different, but, otoh, new conditions can develop at any age.

Hi OP
I had surgery to fix a squint in my right eye about 10 years ago. It was through the NHS (can't remember if I went through GP or optician) and was just day surgery (went in the morning and was home in the evening).
It went well but my squint has gradually come back as I have a lazy eye and my eyes have learned to work independently of each other over the years (I'm 31 now).

It doesn't affect my vision (although my eyesight isn't great) so the operation was purely cosmetic (they called it reconstructive at the time).

It is a very personal decision but there is no guarantee that it will work in the long term and it might come back again.

Thanks Keepsmiling. It was purely cosmetic when I was a child too. 30s now. I don’t really have much sight at all in my bad eye. As in, I can just about see shapes but no detail at all. If I lost sight in my good eye I’d be totally screwed.

Also, keepsmiling, will you get it done again? My other option is to try to figure out how to live with it. And not feel self conscious.

I had exactly the same thing OP. I have had a few squint surgeries when I was younger, and then in my mid 30's my right eye started to wander. It was much much worse when I was tired. Like you my prescription used to straighten it but then it stopped. Never did the opticians offer me any guidance or assistance with it and the prescription did not resolve the issue. Eventually I went to a laser clinic and they said they couldn't help but I should get a referral from the GP. I did and my eye was operated on a few months later. It resolved the issue and I am now 50 and it has not reoccured. The op was very straight forward. You can PM me if you like to discuss it but the first point is to go to GP (not an optician) and refuse to leave until they have referred you to the eye clinic at the hospital. For reference I had my done at The Royal Surrey in Guildford and the surgeon was Dr Gilvarry. She was excellent.

I don't think I'll get it done again as it doesn't impact my day to day life, it's just a bit of a nuisance in photos when I'm facing straight ahead (I.e. passport photo, which I need to get renewed soon!)
DH has mentioned it a couple of times when I've been really tired but other than that, nobody mentions it unless I bring it up.
With everything that's going on in the world it's just a minor inconvenience really and an OP just seems like too much hassle to me!

Thanks Cosmos, that’s helpful. I’ll go to the GP at some point and get a referral if poss. Be great if you could PM me and tell me what you said to GP. And if it was nhs or private. Don’t think I can afford private.

Thanks Keepsmiling. I’m just looking into options at the moment and one of those is to do absolutely nothing and get over it!

@SwanShaped - I just went and said I had seen the laser clinic and it was a cosmetic procedure that could be fixed. It was many years ago but boy did it make me feel self concious. My eye wandered outwards. It was really easy for the referral and I got it done on the NHS, it was relatively soon after the referral and was just a day stay in the hospital. In fact it was so straight forward that now when I see people with "lazy" eyes as adults I am silently deciding whether to say anything to them or not about getting it sorted. If I were you I would just make the appt with the GP and ask them to refer you to the nearest eye clinic and take it from there. Once you have had a consultation they can tell you better the success rate of your problem. I would add that mine was causing me some distress as it was really lagging when tired and I was very self concious about it.

I think you can’t get it on nhs anymore for cosmetic reasons. But I’m going to speak to GP and see.

OP - how old are you? I suspect that you just due to the extra computer use and you may just need a pair of glasses just for the computer that are a little bit stronger. I would second going to see someone else.

You can't get surgery any more as adult for cosmetic squints in England.

I had a squint since small which was never corrected. It was a mild squint but getting worse these last few years. I went to my GP a few years ago and got referred to the local hospital and a surgery was arranged soon after. But I didn't go through the surgery as I was too scared and that the squint could come back within years. I don't have double vision so doesn't affect my eyesight. Originally I asked for botox and they agreed but botox can give you double vision initially until the eye moves in the correct position.

I had surgery for as a child and 30 years on I feel exactly like you. Hate having photos taken etc and I can't look anyone in the eye for long. Really considering having it redone

For those that said prescription glasses can correct squint, do you mean the normal pair of glasses you wear for short sighted?

@Nets888 it depends. For squints that’s turn inwards, many of them are corrected (or partially) by a long sighted (plus) prescription.
For outwards squints - they sometimes can be partially helped by a myopic (minus) prescription, but less so.
It’s very complicated and depends on the individual.