Has anyone ever experienced amblyopia (lazy eye) with their child? and if so...?

Question

Were you able to have it treated and corrected? We just found out our son has this (or something like it) and can't get in to see a specialist until March 22nd! I have read that the earlier this is treated the better...What, if anything can I do now....?

Also, the optometrist says his vision in this left eye is less that 20/100....he can only read the Big E on the eye chart...

There is no physical evidence...no crossed eyes etc...I had no idea...We just went in for a pediatric visit and they said his vision wasn't so great. Went to the optometrist...and he said our son's vision in the left eye is terrible.

He also said that the vision in that eye is so bad, even the strongest Rx would not really do him any good.

Answer 1

I am a 31 y/o male that had this as a child. I don't think it ever gets fixed unless they have more advanced surgery than then. My right eye is lazy. I had 2 or 3 surgeries done on it when I was a child. My mom said it is better now than it ever has been. I still have problems with it more when I'm tired. But I finally got lasik a couple years ago. My vision in it was 20/50 the lasik got it to 20/20. I guess every case could be different, but I just thought I would share with you my personal experience with it. Hopefully this will help you some.

Answer 2

I had amblyopia *as* a child ... and actually, since it wasn't detected early enough to do anything about it (this was the early 70s and I was about 6), I've still got it. I found out many years later that eye exercises could do something about it, but it was expensive and likely wouldn't be covered by insurance.

It is true that earlier is better as far as treatment, since more options will be available. For instance, the eye patch treatment would have helped me out if it had been done when I was 5.

For now, probably the best you can do is wait for the specialist. Treatment for amblyopia has gotten a lot better since the 70s so there will be more options for your son than there were for me!

The main effect now is that I don't have very good peripheral vision on my right side where the bad eye is. Also, even with glasses, my right eye is only correctable to 20/40 ... it used to be only 20/70, so improvement is possible even without treatment.

The main thing someone would notice is that if I'm in a crowded room or unfamiliar environment, I'm more likely to bump into things on my right side. And when I'm driving, I do a lot more head-turning and it takes me longer to figure out when it's safe to go from a stop sign. With essentially monocular vision, I have to see things moving against the background to get a handle on how far away they are and how fast they're moving.

But considering I'm also extremely nearsighted, can't wear contacts, and I'm not a good candidate for laser surgery, having amblyopia really doesn't upset my applecart much! :-)

Answer 3

Ideally, this needs to be sorted before the age of 5 for the best results. Patching the good eye helps but should not be undertaking with out specialist advice as in a very young child who has been patched too long, this could cause the "good" eye to become amblyopic.

For our visual system to develop, both eyes send pictures to the brain via the optic nerves & tracts. If the pictures received at the brain are unequal in clarity or diferent because one of the eyes is turned, the brain ignors one eye. Important cells will not develop if not rectified before the age of 5 or 6. Not treatment will help later in life.

Amblyopia ONLY affects the central vision and not the peripheral vision at all. It was interesting to see Navigator's comments. I hope he has consulted an optometrist for visual field analysis to check the cause of his visual field loss.

If your child is over 5 or 6, it is worth bearing in mind that this problem can run in families, so get younger children's eyes examined at an earlier stage and remind your child when they go on to have their own children of this advice.

9% of children have an amblyopic eye. Your optometrist can explain why this is in your son's case; due to strabismus (a turn) or anisometropia (usudifferent prescriptions in each eye). Explain to your optometrist about the delay in your appointment & ask their advice. They may be able to advise you about a course of patching & visual exercises until then.

Answer 4

My son has the same problem, It started when he was about 4 and he is 8 now. Right now the only thing he can do is wear glasses. They mentioned a eye patch and that can help strengthen the eye muscles but he didn't want to go that route. The doctor also mentioned that he can also have surgery to make the eye straight but not until he is about 12 or 13 but he will always need glasses or contacts. He said that when he is 13 he wants to go for the contacts lol

The glasses do help his eye but as soon as he takes them off it sort of strays to the side again. i hope everything goes well with your son.

Answer 5

amblyopia is a condition that develops in the early years of child development. It is more of a brain thing than an eye problem. Early on for some reason the brain with turn off the vision to one eye and the other eye will fully develop. If caught early enough, usually around 6yrs of age. Treatments can be used to help gain better vision out of the poorly seeing eye. These treatments include patching, drops, glasses, or vision therapy.

Answer 6

No, but my husband has it. It wasn't corrected when he was a child. So now that he is an adult, he has issues with his career choices. He has to wear one contact in that eye. I can't tell that he has lazy eye unless I study his eyes for a long time and, we've been married 6 years.

Answer 7

Any eye turn with amblyopia is a bad thing that needs to be resolved as soon as possible. The goal is for both eyes to be seeing well and together. This can't happen if they are not pointing the same direction. You are at risk of just switching which eye is bad. Get her in ASAP.

Answer 8

my sister has that and she got bifocals : P idk what else though