Has any adult over 50 had successful experience in improving a 'lazy eye' with exercises?

Question

I am over 50 and have had a 'lazy eye' all my life.I have had 3 perations to straighten it,at 3 years,16 and 20.
After my last operation the surgeon told me that operations don't fix the problem .I don't remember ever having binocular vision.
My eye remained reasonably straight in appearance until after i turned 40 and began doing work that involved a lot of
looking at text for up to 3 hours daily in total.
Gradually my weaker eye began to turn out and now the difference in my eyes is quite obvoius.
I am self conscious about it,don't like looking at new people when i speak to them and don't like having my photo taken.
I am working on a visual therapy programme at the moment with my optometrist.
I have just started working with a Eyeport.
If anyone has experienced improvement without an operation I would love to know your experience.
I know children can be helped but what about an older person like myself?

Answer 1

I know of a few, but the vast majority of over-20's that have pursued amblyopia treatment that I am aware of have put in time and or money to little effect.
The best improvements I have seen have come with patients who have lost the sight of their previously better eye, but even there the degree of improvement was very variable.

In fact in most text-books the top age recommended for treating amblyopia has come down in the last 20 years, from around 12 to around 7.

BUT... this may be subject to revision.
There are some new treatments and techniques which claim to be more effective with adults, and some practitioners offer the prospect of improvement at any age.
I'd like to believe them, but I remember other examples of "false dawns"* and "quackery", so I reserve my enthusiasm and optimism just for the moment, while waiting for more evidence to accumulate.

* for example: " RCTs [Randomised controlled trials] of another form of active amblyopia therapy, the CAM stimulator (Banks et al., 1978), showed that initial promising clinical results (Campbell et al., 1978) were attributable to practice and placebo effects (Tytla and Labow-Daily, 1981; Lennerstrand and Samuelson, 1983; Nyman et al., 1983). "

BUT...
"I am working on a visual therapy programme at the moment with my optometrist. "
If you are happy to make the effort and go for it, go for it.
I know of no prospect of harm or damage that can come from trying. (Induced double vison is so rare I can't recall even hearing of a case of it during my career, though it is still listed as a technically possible adverse outcome of breaking down suppression.)

The misalignment of the eyes, and the poor vision in the amblyopic eye, are very much separate issues.
Do make sure you are clear on what you, and your practitioner, think you are trying to achieve.

Best wishes,
Optometrist, retired.

Answer 2

Improve Your Eyesight Naturally

Answer 3

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