When Your Eye Gets Lazy

You’ve probably encountered a couple of lazy people in this world. But did you know that laziness can strike the eye too?

When your eye wanders inward or outward or doesn’t seem to follow the other one, you have what doctors call a “lazy eye.”

Lazy eye or amblyopia is a condition where one eye doesn’t work as hard as the other. This leads to poor vision in the affected eye leading to permanent visual impairment. The condition is common in children who were born prematurely and tends to run in families. In others, both eyes are affected.

“Lazy eye is the leading cause of decreased vision among children. And lazy eye is fairly common. Lazy eye affects about two to three of every 100 children, according to the National Eye Institute,” said the Mayo Clinic.

The condition may be caused by an anatomic abnormality such an irregular eye shape or differences in shape between the eyes. Other possible causes are eye defects like nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. A cataract can also trigger its development.

“The most common culprit is strabismus - an imbalance in the muscles responsible for positioning of the eyes, which can cause the eyes to cross in or turn out. The muscle imbalance prevents the eyes from tracking with each other,” said the Mayo Clinic.

Early detection is important to save the patient’s sight. Treatment depends on the cause. Corrective eyewear is all that’s needed for patients suffering from common eye defects.

To force the weak eye to work, your doctor may ask your child to wear a patch over the strong eye. This forces the patient to use the bad eye, leading to dramatic improvement of vision.

Anatomic abnormalities may require surgery. This holds true for cataracts and other anatomic problems.

“For most children with lazy eye, proper treatment improves vision within weeks to several months - and the earlier treatment begins, the better. Although research suggests that the treatment window extends through at least age 17, results are better when treatment begins in early childhood, the Mayo Clinic concluded.

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