Amblyopia
Amblyopia, often referred to as “lazy eye”, is the most common eye condition of childhood and affects approximately 3% to 5% of the population. It is a condition where the function of vision did not develop normally in one eye, however it can also affect the functions of binocular vision.
Sight develops normally from birth to the age of 6 and the organs of the visual system should be not only healthy, but also functional. Some of the children who need glasses before the age of 6 also suffer from amblyopia and need special treatment.
Amblyopia, if not discovered in early childhood, unfortunately cannot be cured. “We see with the eyes, but we see with the brain” and amblyopia is a problem of brain development. The area of the brain that receives images from an amblyopic eye is not properly stimulated, and if in the early years of life the brain does not have clear visual images from one eye to learn to analyze and translate them into visual information , then he will never be able to undertake this task.
What causes amblyopia
Amblyopia is a consequence of any disease, which affects the normal development of the vision function. Its most common causes are:
- Strabismus, the misalignment of the eyes, which can lead to the eye that squints in “Strabustic Amblyopia”.
- Anisometropia (difference of refraction in the 2 eyes) or high refractive errors (hypermetropia, myopia, astigmatism) causing “Anisometropic or Refractive Amblyopia”.
- Any condition that prevents visual stimuli from entering the eye (e.g. eyelid ptosis, corneal clouding, congenital cataract or eye injury) can also cause “Amblyopia from anopia”, i.e. amblyopia due to deprivation of visual information.
How is the diagnosis made
Diagnosing Amblyopia is not easy, as the child usually does not realize that he does not see well, unless there is reduced vision in both eyes.
Ophthalmologists use tests to check visual acuity and examine the inside of the eye to rule out diseases or abnormalities that may be causing amblyopia.
How do we deal with it
The goal is to restore both the cooperation of the two eyes and the visual acuity of the amblyopic eye.
In the case of amblyopia due to anisometropia, it can be treated with glasses or contact lenses.
Amblyopia due to a condition that prevents visual stimuli from entering the eye (e.g. congenital cataract), the child needs surgical removal of the cataract.
In the case of amblyopia due to strabismus, the most appropriate treatment is the method of overlapping the strong/healthy eye to achieve training of the other (lazy eye), and surgical eye alignment. Four hours of covering a day has been shown to be sufficient, if and as long as the amblyopia is not too great and the age of the patient is between 3 and 7 years. In such a case, continuous follow-up by the ophthalmologist is necessary to check the effectiveness of the method and avoid the development of amblyopia in the healthy eye as well.
In some children, changes in behavior are observed, because they usually react to covering the good eye, become irritated or even cry.
If a child resists the use of an adhesive bandage for several months, then there are other solutions that the eye doctor may recommend:
- Amblyopia glasses AMBLYZ. This is a clinically proven method of treating amblyopia, according to which an electronic mechanism is integrated into eyeglasses to darken the good eye. Amblyopia glasses are worn like regular eyeglasses and the mechanism darkens one of the two lenses at regular intervals, thus blocking vision from the good eye so that the amblyopic-lazy eye can function and develop.
The duration of treatment varies depending on the age of the child and the severity of the condition. If the problem is caught early, vision can improve dramatically.
Then, a period of maintenance must follow, which can last up to 3 years, because if we neglect this stage, the problem can reappear.