Amblyopia or lazy eye in children

Amblyopia is a medical term for dim vision from one or rarely two eyes. Ambly means dull or dim, and opia are from the Greek ‘ops’ meaning eye. It is also called the Lazy eye. The decreased vision from an eye is due to abnormal development of the eye from birth up to 7 years. Amblyopia is the most common cause of loss of vision in kids. The affected eye deviated inward or outward. Early detection and treatment help to prevent permanent vision loss in children. Let’s learn about Amblyopia in detail.

Brain and eye connection:

In amblyopia or lazy eye, one eye has blurred vision and the other eye can see normally. Rarely it affects both eyes. If blurry vision develops in one eye, the brain may not recognize the objects or images seen by it. It weakens the eye more and lowers vision strength. After a while, the brain starts ignoring the objects or images seen by the unaffected eye or healthy eye.

What are the signs of Amblyopia or lazy eye?

Here are some behavioral changes in kids with Amblyopia or lazy eye

1.            Tilting head to one side

2.            Closing one eye to see or read

3.            Squinting or closing eyes frequently

4.            Shaking eye continuously

5.            Strabismus due to lazy eye

6.            Poor depth perception

7.            While focusing eye moves in a different direction

Types of Amblyopia or lazy eye:

Deprivation Amblyopia: 

Anatomical or structural problems such as droopy eyelid or cataract condition block the vision and lead to lazy eye.

Refractive Amblyopia:

Uncorrected refractive errors like myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and anisometropia cause blurry vision. The brain will not recognize these images making the eye weaker, gradually leading to Amblyopia.

Strabismic Amblyopia:

This is the most common cause where both eyes do not align together. It is either cross in position or facing out, up or down. The straight eye becomes dominant and its brain-eye connection is normal, on the other hand, the brain ignores the blurry images by the affected eye making the eye weaker.

Reverse Amblyopia develops in to sound eye while treating the affected eye.

Nowadays a specialized “brain-training” computer program is effective in treating amblyopia and improving vision in the long term.

How can we help?

Often while dealing with Amblyopia kids get used to vision issues. If not mentioned to parents the vision disorder remains undiagnosed. Sometimes there is no visual sign of a vision problem, parents and teachers should observe behavioral changes. That is why eye experts recommend preventive screening in children from an early age.

Vigour360 School Health provides advanced eye screening in children. It helps to identify vision problems such as Myopia, Hyperopia, Amblyopia etc. at an early age. Early detection is essential to mitigate future risk of vision loss.

FAQs:

Can amblyopia be fully corrected?

Amblyopia affects 2 or 3 out of 100 children. If detected early then it can be treated with good outcomes. Children with early diagnosis can see improved vision.

What is the most common cause of amblyopia in children?

Muscle imbalance is the most common cause of amblyopia in children. The imbalance of muscles wanders the eye inward or outward. This position prevents the eyes from functioning together. 

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