Squint surgery

[Crochetmadmama]

My dd8 is due next Thursday for her squint surgery, it feels so sudden even though we were on the list since nov, we did speak to the surgeon then and I specifically remember him saying when they correct it they will pull the eye in slightly so as it heals it should straighten up, now I'm panicking she will have cross eyes for photos and stuff going forward , am I over thinking this? Did they do this for anyone else's kiddies?

My dad had it done in the 60s. He doesn't have cross eyes in photos or anything like that. If you focus on his face you can still see that his eyes don't move quite right but this is something only close family notice.
He is in his 60s and his opticians is very impressed by the vision in his eyes as the technique used then wasn't as good as it is now and says he must have had a very good surgeon. This is less of a problem now but shows even back in the day the long term implications could be good

OP- Did they say how long the healing takes till the eyes should line up? I would have thought it would be corrected, or much improved by he time she returns to school. Any reason they waited till she was 8 to correct it?

They thought it is cosmetic only, her eye only really drifts out long distance so can tell if having a conversation she has 6 monthly eye appointments and saw the surgeon in Nov and he said it is drifting out and he can tighten the muscle on the inner corner but he will over tighten it to compensate for healing but now iv having a panic it will leave her cross eyed, I think I will give them a call to confirm

Assuming you have a competent, experienced surgeon, this should all be fine. By all means ask him politely "how often have you performed this procedure before, what is the success rate, is there a risk that the ultimate outcome may be worse eg cross-eyed, how great is that risk, what are the risks of doing nothing, could it get worse with age or affect her sight, etc.". You are well within your rights to ask all these things; indeed they should already have discussed them with you.

But FWIW, a member of my family has had this surgery twice at age 3, as the condition was too extreme to fix it one surgery, and it's healed really well and much much better than before

but now iv having a panic it will leave her cross eyed

Try not to panic OP. I'm sure the surgeon has performed this 100's of times and knows how much to tighten it for a perfect result. x

My dd had this surgery on both eyes age 3.

Her eyes were patched for about 6 months prior to the surgery to strengthen the muscle.

I don't recall them over compensating by taking more than necessary though, but they have been perfect since the op. They have never turned the other way as a result.

Just a heads up about the scarring though. Dd is early 20s now (so things could have changed with how it's done), but when she turns her eyes she has visible scarring on the inner of her eyeballs. Some years ago they said she could have more surgery to remove the scars, but she/we didn't feel this was necessary. Also post op, there will be blood in the eyes so be prepared for this as it can be a little daunting to see.

I am sure the surgeon will have performed this op many times before, our was a day case and dd went home the same day.

All the best for next week 💐

Yes he is a really lovely surgeon and did discuss quite a lot with us at the appointment in november , I should have taken notes to be honest but I just didn't think at the time, I think I'm just over panicking

Surgeon didn't mention scarring, now I'm worried even more, is it quite visible?

Please don't worry. My daughter had this surgery and was in with other children who'd had it might multiple times. Scarring was never mentioned and she has no scars. They might tighten up the muscles slightly more or indeed less, the surgeon decides on the day from all the information they have before and what they see. In my daughter's case they only decided which eye to operate on that day (whether to loosen one side muscle or to tighten the other side). She had exercises to do after and we were told that future operations could happen if needed but they didn't think it would be necessary. You wouldn't have known she'd had surgery the next day except for a tiny reddening in her eye. The operation is for the best anyway and any temporary cross-eye would be worth it, I'm sure you know this but just you reassure you.

Thank you the surgeon just rang me and completly calmed me down and said its a functional surgery not cosmetic as her eye drifting could get worse so I feel better to get it done now for her, did the whites of your daughter eye go back to normal after surgery?

Absolutely yes, you would have no idea she'd had it done. I'm so pleased you've spoken to the doc.

Thank you can I ask when/how long ago your daughter had the surgery? Surgeon said reddening can occur for 6 months after he was quite confident and told me he would treat my dd as if she was his own so I'm reassured :)

My mum has had this done twice (an operation lasts 40 years and they can only do the eye again if it then goes the other way). A massive improvement both times as if not my mum's eye looks completely the other direction. My mum has never had any problems with the surgery on either occasion and means her eyes both look forwards! You can see a slight bump on her eye but nothing compared to how bad her eyes were!

She had it done last year. Reddening had honestly gone down in 24 hours and disappeared entirely within a couple of days. There's really nothing to worry about, in the morning she had hers done they did 8 other children and then the afternoon was booked for adults. She woke up in pain and did have a cry but within an hour or so we were off and heading home with eye drops and instructions for paracetamol. She spent the next few days off school because that's what the hospital suggested but she was absolutely fine and just drove me bonkers whilst I was trying to work from home 🤣

That's good to know, I hope my dd is as lucky and doesn't get scarring, I did the worse thing and googled so read some horror stories about it

I had a squint corrected in 1960s, with both eyes having muscles shortened. I had a very marked squint beforehand and perfectly aligned eyes thereafter. I had patching before the operation for one eye. I was 8 when I had the op, and the only negative I can recall is having my eyes bandaged for several days afterwards. I can remember peeling the tape off and being told off and having it replaced!

In the years since, opticians have several times commented that they wouldn't have known I had the op if it wasn't in my records.

I do still need glasses (now contact lenses) as I still have issues with acuity and I am very long-sighted. (As a child I was told it may self correct in my teens but that wasn't the case).

I'm sorry I didn't mean to frighten you more. This was just our experience and I was as terrified as you.

My dd had inward squints and a lot of muscle removed (9mm) so maybe her case was a bit different, and it was 19 years ago so that could be a huge factor with advances in surgeries.

I had corrective surgery on my eye when I was 25. It moved for me, but it’s 25 years of a bad eye!

Don’t worry, due to her age, her eye may stay in the corrected position..

All the luck to your daughter. 🩷

Hi,

My children had squint correction surgery at a young age. Not a permanent squint but a drifting squint when tired, concentrating, etc.

They are a bit older now and the squint still happens. Both done in different hospitals by different surgeons. I won't be sending them for surgery again, nor their younger sibling.

The surgeries were fine however and the recovery went smoothly albeit very hard administering the eye drops!

Yes my daughters is intermittent, quite obvious when chatting to her though I think as her looks sometimes like a false eye it looks that unfocused, did they have any scarring? Or the whites of their eyes affected?

she won’t have anything happen to her eye with regards to scaring. I had mine done in 2015, they cut the top of the eye and it’s hidden due to the lid.

If you’re looking for a scar, you will find it (opening the eye) but it won’t be visible.

Scarring**

Your DD has an intermittent divergent squint and these tend to recur over time after surgery. That is why many surgeons now slightly overcorrect during surgery, and the eye normally straightens up over the following few weeks. Having said that, as her squint sounds intermittent and is functional (ie restoring binocular vision function) they could slightly under correct it and it would probably be fine too, but it may recur sooner. Surgeons audit their own surgeries so they know what to do for the best outcomes. Nothing is ever guaranteed but they will be doing what will give the best chance of long term success in this case.
The eye can be very red for the first few days and can still be pink for a few weeks. For some, the slight pink can last for months but the scars always fade to white/silver eventually.
Best of luck.

I just want to thank everyone for commenting so far and calming an anxious mum down, if anyone else has any more success stories of their kiddos having this surgery I would love to here them 🥰

Hi Op, I had squint surgeries as a child but when I hit my early 30's my right eye starting to drift out. It got really bad, and was especially bad when I was tired. I had squint surgery and yes they over compensate and pull the muscle in too far but over a period of weeks (I can't remember, but not many) it does straighten up. For a lot of that time I wore a patch anyhow as I looked like I had done ten rounds with Mike Tyson. It has only been a positive experience for me.